EPISTLES

In November 2023, Eric Sammons from Crisis Magazine interviewed Keith Fournier, a Permanent Deacon from the Diocese of Tyler where Bishop Joseph Strickland was a reigning bishop for 11 years. Bishop Strickland was relieved from his pastoral office by Pope Francis after publicly defending his flock against the restrictions imposed by the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes, which placed painful restrictions against the Traditional Latin Mass, during the time when Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV) was Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and Cardinalate.

Transcription of Key Parts of the Interview

Somebody sent me — and I think I have it here — this document, The Constitution on Teaching, by a bishop named Joseph Strickland.

And by the way, I skipped something — I went off to CUA too and worked on my PhD and finished the coursework, took the comps, passed the language things, but never finished my dissertation. So they gave me an M.L., and maybe I’ll finish it someday, but it really doesn’t matter.

So I read this Constitution on Teaching. I thought, if this were implemented in every parish in the United States, we would see the desperately needed restoration of an authentically Catholic Church.

So, I wrote to this bishop. He wrote back. And once again, I had this wonderful relationship — and this time it was over the internet — with a man of God, and we just grew close. We were texting one another and emailing one another and recommending books.

And he invited me to come out to Tyler. The first time I came alone — and I am known a little bit nationally, so I did it incognito — traveled with him for a week. And I saw the humility and holiness and evangelical joy of this man, and how he was loved by the faithful here.

And I thought, I’ve got to help him. I’ve got to do whatever I can to help him.

Went back home, we stayed in touch. Then he invited my wife to come. We went out. Long story short, at some point he invited me to consider coming and helping.

And so — so I came here. And I saw my task — and I was 64, I’m now going to be 69 in a couple of weeks — I saw my task as basically holding his arms up, whatever it meant. So, legal advisor, theological advisor… I became Director of Deacon Formation. And then he also asked me to become Dean of Catholic Identity at a Catholic school here — the Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Catholic School.

And I’ve been working at his side for five years. It has been the highlight of my life, honestly. And I have to be careful because I tear up when I think of the way he’s being treated.

I’ve never met a more genuinely humble and holy man of God. He is a true successor of the Apostles. And the key is — he prays. He is continually in Eucharistic adoration. He is consecrated to Our Lady.

So things are shaking here right now — I think you know that — I don’t want to get into that. But I will say this: in the almost five years that my wife Loren and I have been here, we found a diocese in love with Jesus, dedicated to Our Lady, committed to Eucharistic adoration — flourishing. Let me make that clear: flourishing.

Spiritually flourishing. Flourishing in the seminary — more vocations per capita than perhaps any diocese in the country. Flourishing in every way. Financially flourishing, in great shape.

And I have stood with a man who guards the Deposit of Faith without compromise — and he does it with joy, not with finger-wagging — and continually on his knees. And I’m proud and honored to stand with him.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I know this: he’s going to continue to serve the Lord as a bishop, now without a diocese. And I think the best is yet to come.

He’s a pastoral man. He’s a leader. He’s what a bishop should be. He works off an ecclesial model, not a corporate model.

So for example, he chooses other people who are very able. A leader inspires others to excellence, encourages them, and knows how to surround himself with capable people so that things are done well. Things here are flourishing — financially, spiritually, pastorally. Souls are flourishing, families are flourishing. He’s a good leader.

Now, he trusts me, and we’re very close. He doesn’t hover over me, but I reported to him regularly, and we prayed together a lot. I traveled with him. I looked forward to it. He’s a great leader.

I think we’ve fallen into a misguided model — too often bishops act like CEOs rather than pastors. Bishop Strickland leads like the Apostles did — through prayer and service. He always begins every meeting with prayer. In his conference room, there’s a crucifix right in front of him, and he points to it and says, “It’s about Him,” meaning Jesus.

His favorite saying is, we need to be first-century Christians in a twenty-first-century world. That’s how he lives.

He lives simply. I kneel beside him often at the altar and I think, my gosh, your toes are going to stick out of those shoes one day. But I wouldn’t say that to him. It’s inspiring. He lives like St. Francis of Assisi — very simply himself, but spares nothing for the altar of the Lord.

His greatness really comes from his littleness, his simplicity, and his total dependence on God.

It’s been really the honor of my life — that’s all I can say. I’ve been serving the Lord in one capacity or another for over 50 years. I’ve been a member of the clergy, a deacon for 27 of those years. I’ve worked in leadership and I’ve been with great leaders.

But I’ve never been with somebody like this, because his greatness comes from his littleness and his genuine humility, and his authentic holiness. He’s truly in love with the Lord.

Deacon Keith Fournier