BALTIMORE (LifeSiteNews) — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) ignored Bishop Joseph Strickland after he voiced concerns over a Confirmation for an openly homosexual ABC News anchor.
During the November 12 USCCB Plenary Assembly, Strickland questioned the recent confirmation of openly homosexual ABC News correspondent Gio Benitez, only to be ignored by bishops who refused to address his concerns.
“I don’t know how many of us have seen on social media,” Strickland began during the question period. “Priests and others gathered, celebrating the Confirmation of a man living with a man openly. And it just needs to be addressed.”
.@BishStrick CALLS OUT @JamesMartinSJ Scandal — And Is Met With DEAFENING SILENCE at the @USCCB pic.twitter.com/QJP2a8PSBU
— Sign of the Cross (@CatholicSOTC) November 13, 2025
Over the weekend, Benitez praised Jesuit and LGBT-activist priest Father James Martin for bringing him back to the Catholic Church “exactly as I am.” His partner, Tommy DiDario – whom he referred to as his husband – served as his sponsor.
However, the USCCB refused to respond to Strickland’s concerns. Instead, session chair Bishop Daniel E. Flores acknowledged his question, saying “Thank you, Bishop.”
Flores then promptly moved on to the next agenda item without engaging the substance of the intervention or inviting further discussion from the panel or other bishops. No other bishops spoke directly in response at that moment, and the panel did not address the topic raised.
In addition to being snubbed by the USCCB, Strickland was sneered online by Austen Ivereigh, Pope Francis’ biographer and a key member of “Team Francis.”
“On the day that disgraced Bp Strickland stood up at USCCB mtng to denounce @JamesMartinSJ for receiving into the Church a gay man in a relationship, Pope Leo warmly received a gay couple, smiling and nodding when they praised Fr Martin for his ministry,” Ivereigh wrote on X.
Ivereigh linked to an article detailing Pope Leo’s meeting with a prominent same-sex “couple” during a Vatican audience. Notably, the audience did not occur on the same day as Strickland’s statement to the USCCB, as claimed by Ivereigh, but took place in October.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, marriage is defined as “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”
The Catechism further declares that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved.”