Bishop Joseph E. Strickland

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Joseph Edward Strickland is the fourth and current Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tyler. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on September 29, 2012, and received his Episcopal Ordination and installation as Bishop of Tyler on November 28, 2012, at Caldwell Auditorium in Tyler, Texas. His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo as the celebrant and principal consecrator.

On the announcement of his appointment, Vatican Radio called Strickland "one of North America’s new generation of blogging priests" for his Running Priest Blog.

Strickland succeeds Alvaro Corrada del Rio, SJ, who was appointed Bishop of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in July 2011.

Strickland was born on October 31, 1958, in Fredericksburg, Texas. As a young child, his family moved to Atlanta, Texas, where his parents were founding members of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church. Strickland attended Holy Trinity Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood on June 1, 1985, for the Diocese of Dallas. His first assignment was to Immaculate Conception Parish in Tyler, Texas. Upon the creation of the Diocese of Tyler in 1987, Strickland was incardinated into the new diocese and was named the first vocation director for the diocese in March 1987 by Bishop Charles Herzig. His service in the diocese also included periods at Sacred Heart Parish in Nacogdoches, Texas and St. Michael Parish in Mt. Pleasant, Texas.

In 1992, Strickland was assigned by Bishop Edmond Carmody to study canon law at Catholic University of America, where he earned a JCL in 1994. He was then named judicial vicar of the Diocese of Tyler and Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1995, he was named a Prelate of Honor with the title of Monsignor by Pope John Paul II.

Strickland served as administrator of the diocese of Tyler from March 2000 until January 2001 when Bishop Alvaro Corrada was installed as the third bishop of the Diocese. In 2010, Strickland was named vicar general of the diocese. He served in that capacity until being named delegate of the apostolic administrator upon Bishop Corrada's departure for Puerto Rico.
Strickland is the first native East Texan to head the 33-county Church in Tyler.

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