(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Joseph Strickland praised Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), for helping to preserve the Traditional Latin Mass, declaring that his service will be “recognized by history.”
In an exclusive interview with The Catholic Herald, Bishop Strickland defended the TLM and Archbishop Lefebvre; criticized the ideal of Church “unity” not based in truth; and warned that Pope Leo XIV is continuing Pope Francis’ path of undermining the Catholic faith.
When the Herald pointed out that the Traditional Latin Mass was criticized as “divisive” by Francis, Bishop Strickland flatly rejected the idea that the Latin Mass, through which “countless saints” became holy, is “harmful” or “divisive.”
“To try to suppress the Latin Mass as if it were something outdated or bad is, in my view, contrary to the faith,” Bishop Strickland said. He noted that, on the contrary, the changes to the Mass have “diminished its sacred focus and the focus on Christ,” and led to “countless examples of a loss of reverence.”
Even Vatican II and its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy did not call for many of the changes seen in the Novus Ordo Missae — the new Mass — Bishop Strickland pointed out. For example, the document called for the preservation of Latin and Gregorian chant in the Mass.
When the focus on Christ in the Mass is diminished, the Church is “in danger,” the bishop continued, adding that we have “seen the results” of this danger in the Church since the new Mass was promulgated.
Asked about his views on the SSPX, Bishop Strickland lauded Archbishop Lefebvre for helping to preserve the Latin Mass as something “vital to the life of the Church. When the Novus Ordo was promulgated, the SSPX had the only seminary training priests to offer the Latin Mass, and forming them according to the tradition of the Church.
Bishop Strickland asserted that the Mass “is at the very center” of the Church’s response to the modern world, since “the law of prayer is the law of belief” — lex orandi, lex credendi. “And we are seeing that struggle playing out,” he added.
He went on to declare that Archbishop Lefebvre, “in standing firm for the Latin Mass and insisting it could not be abolished … will be recognised by history.” Bishop Strickland believes he “will be remembered as a faithful Catholic who stood for principles that were in danger of being lost, questioned, or discarded,” primarily the Latin Mass.
The SSPX’s preservation of the Latin Mass is now especially significant because now again the Latin Mass, after Traditionis Custodes, “is treated as though it were a poison that must be eliminated, which is a complete distortion of what the Mass is,” Bishop Strickland said.
He acknowledged that Archbishop Lefebvre’s continuation of the SSPX in the face of censure by the Vatican “was a painful choice for him personally,” but he decided that he must hold fast to the Mass of the Ages (a)nd not abandon it, no matter who told him otherwise.”
The Catholic Herald framed several of its questions for Bishop Strickland in the context of “unity in the Church” as an ideal. The prelate clarified that unity, as a good, is always premised on truth as a foundation.
“Authentic unity in the Church is never built on silence in the face of error. True unity is found only in Christ, who is ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6),” Bishop Strickland stated when asked about how he reconciles his “outspokenness” with “the call for unity in the Church.”
“Unity that ignores truth is merely uniformity,” he affirmed.
Bishop Strickland, who is known to have firmly criticized Pope Francis, was also asked his thoughts on Pope Leo XIV.
“When Pope Leo XIV was elected, I expressed the hope that he would faithfully uphold the Deposit of Faith,” he replied. Indeed, despite being removed from his position as Bishop of Tyler, Texas by Pope Leo XIV when he was known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, Bishop Strickland charitably forgave him and refrained from judging his papacy, even composing a prayer for him.
“That hope was genuine – but it has already been tested and, sadly, diminished,” Bishop Strickland said.
He went on to cite problematic actions and omissions by Pope Leo XIV during the first months of his papacy: having retained Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, “whose record includes undermining moral doctrine,” including by promoting Holy Communion for adulterers and downplaying the need to oppose same-sex marriage.
“He has appointed bishops who openly support the ordination of women, contrary to the Church’s constant teaching,” noted Bishop Strickland, referring to Pope Leo XIV’s appointment of Bishop Shane Mackinlay — who “has publicly expressed support for the possibility of ordaining women to the diaconate” — as Archbishop of Brisbane.
“These are not small matters. They represent a continuation of the same pattern we saw under Pope Francis – tolerating, or even promoting, voices that contradict the faith while sidelining those who speak it plainly,” Bishop Strickland said.
During COVID, as Cardinal Prevost, he also imposed receiving Communion on the hand and Confession by telephone, which is both invalid and sacrilegious.
Bishop Strickland said that he prays for Pope Leo XIV “every day,” but that this “does not mean remaining silent when the flock is being scattered.”
“If Pope Leo XIV chooses to uphold the same policies I have already spoken against – such as the restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass – then my course is simple: I will continue to proclaim the truth and defend what the Church has always handed down, regardless of the cost.”
