Asked whether he had plans to wade further into politics as a commentator or even run for office, Strickland answered by lamenting that U.S. politics has become “fractured,” saying, “I don’t look forward to this election.”
“We need divine intervention for the nation,” he said.
But Strickland seemingly couldn’t resist adding a bit of political commentary to his impromptu news conference. He noted that despite his own right-wing rhetoric and the conservative tilt of the U.S. Bishops Conference, U.S. Catholics overall were almost exactly split between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, according to the AP VoteCast poll.
“The Catholics of the nation voted in a man who calls himself Catholic, but doesn’t live it,” Strickland said, a common critique among conservative Catholics regarding Biden’s support for abortion rights.
“I try to support the truth of Christ, and there aren’t many in the the national or even state level that are leading in that way,” Strickland said.
This article originally appeared here.
, Joseph Strickland was the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a post he had held since 2012, when he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI.){kind=link}