Pope Francis is a “Pastor”…Bishop Zurek is a “Copycat”???

I’m of the opinion that whenever our pope acts in a certain way it won’t be long before our Bishop Zurek “copycats”…

Copycat tryna cop my manner

Watch your back when you can’t watch mine

Copycat tryna cop my glamour

Why so sad, bunny? Can’t have mine

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Billie Eilish O’Connell / Finneas Baird O’Connell
COPYCAT lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Group

Aligning with the pope is something Catholics should strive for, but I think that  denying individuality in the Body of Christ and becoming a “Copycat Catholic” can lead to error in the “why” and “how” the alignment with the more prominent parts of the Body is done.

Recently Pope Francis signed a new encyclical, “‘Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship,’ at the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, source of the document’s title and inspiration.”

It took Bishop Zurek less than two months to “copycat” with “Christ—The Joy of Life/Cristo—El Gozo de la Vida, A Pastoral Letter to the People of God of the Diocese of Amarillo, An Advent reflection: Encountering Joy in the midst of Uncertain Times“.

Let’s compare “how” these two pastors released their letters:

Pope Francis released his letter to the public online the next day after signing it.

Bishop Zurek has only distributed his letter to parishes, forcing anyone who wants to read it during Advent to come out of any self-imposed isolation from the pandemic. This contradicts what His Excellency stated in a different letter (which he did post online), “During this time all Catholics within the Catholic Diocese of Amarillo are dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.”

This is also a different approach than what was used with a another letter, “A Reflection on Christian Life”. This letter was solely meant for the Faith Community at St. Mary’s Cathedral. It denounced “a few”, who were publicly voicing concerns on social media about a crisis that our pastor seemed to be ignoring. It was read and distributed at the Cathedral at Sunday Mass, and immediately posted and reposted in order to keep it atop the news section of the diocesan website for four months. It remains online despite the urgings of some who feel that removing it would help in the healing of the parish.

I think that if Bishop Zurek wanted to align himself with Pope Francis in promoting, “FRATERNITY AND SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP“, he should not just  “copycat” him in writing a letter, but align himself by removing, “A Reflection on Christian Life“, and replacing it with, “Christ—The Joy of Life/Cristo—El Gozo de la Vida“!