(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of The Bishop Strickland Show, Bishop Joseph Strickland explains that he wrote his pastoral letter to the faithful of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, because of the confusion that will result from the Synod on Synodality this October.
Calling the upcoming Synod the “Synod of confusion,” Strickland explained that the “whole tone of the Synod is, ‘Well, we may vote to change the truth… They can vote for whatever and create all kinds of documents and say whatever they want, but… Jesus Christ is Truth, and that’s why I wanted to start with… Him.”
Strickland also explained that the day before the release of the letter is, in the Novus Ordo calendar, the Memorial of St. Pius X (September 3 in the Old Rite), noting that the attempt to change established dogmas of the Catholic Church has been “tried before.”
“Pius X had the Oath Against Modernism that was required,” Strickland stated, referring to the heresy that St. Pius X called the “synthesis of all heresies… It went away sixty years [after it was promulgated], in 1967. It should never have gone away, and a lot of what we’re dealing with is the same harm that Pius X saw.”
Strickland also addressed concerns that he was sowing division because of the document, and insisted that he wrote the document as the spiritual father of the faithful in Tyler.
“If I truly love the flock that I serve and beyond, I’ve got to… speak the truth that sets us free, the truth that gives us life even in this world,” His Excellency said, adding that he felt compelled to write it and that he was glad he did.
“I’ve already been accused of creating division, and that they can never support me in creating division,” he continued. “Yeah, things are divided. When you turn away from the Truth, terrible divisions happen.”
“I just don’t accept the charge that I’m creating division,” he declared. “I’m trying to address the division.”
Later in the episode, Strickland commented on the love with which he wrote the document. According to him, his love for Our Lord and his love for his flock motivated him to write it.
Remarking on the kind of love with which he wrote the document, Strickland said “it’s sacrificial and it’s willing, desiring the good of the other,” adding that Christ is the “personification of that kind of love.”
“Christ says the greatest love is to lay down your life for your friend,” he pointed out. “My flock is more than just friends. They’re… part of who we are. They are part of us. And absolutely, a man lays down his life for his family and the flock of Tyler and beyond.”
Towards the end of the episode, His Excellency returned to the theme of love in connection with whether he thinks he may be “canceled.”
“It’s not about me,” he insisted. “I’m sure people will say, ‘Well, he really needs to be canceled now. He really needs to be removed.’ And it may happen, but whether that happens or not, I can’t stop loving and stop sharing the Truth because I’m not going to be popular or I’m not going to have the position.”
“A father is willing to lose his life for his children, and a shepherd should be willing to lose his life for his sheep.”
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