Bishop Schneider: ‘Only divine intervention can help’ Church crisis now
The auxiliary bishop's forthright comments come in light of the planned episcopal consecrations by the SSPX this summer.
(PerMariam) — Referencing the “state of necessity” in the Church invoked by the Society of Saint Pius X, a prominent diocesan bishop has opined that “only divine intervention can help” in the face of the widespread internal ecclesial crisis.
The crisis in the Church is a much discussed issue, dividing many in terms of how serious they deem it to be. For the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) this is more than an interesting intellectual debate but a point of identity, since the Society cites the “state of necessity” as a reason for consecrating new bishops this coming summer.
A few weeks ago, SSPX Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani attested that this crisis is worse than ever before – worse therefore than at the time of the 1988 episcopal consecrations – following Pope Francis’ pontificate.
“The decisions taken by Pope Francis are catastrophic. Yes, catastrophic,” Pagliarani commented. “Traditional morality regarding marriage has been ruined… Always in the name, of course, of understanding, of listening, of the ability to adapt. And we thus come to justify everything.”
The past days have seen Bishop Athanasius Schneider lend support to Pagliarani’s assessment of the state of the Church. “Every day we witness an unbelievable, apocalyptic-seeming scenario,” Schneider stated, during an interview with German outlet Certamen.
{For Per Mariam’s full and ongoing coverage of the SSPX episcopal consecrations, see our reports here.}
Giving examples of such things, Schneider listed: “open propagation of heresies, legitimization of homosexuality—that is, sodomy—religious syncretism (pagan rituals), indifferentism (all religions are equal paths to God), undermining of the Church’s apostolic discipline regarding the sacraments and priestly celibacy, sacrileges, and apostasy.”
These varied events and theological issues are “being promoted with impunity and even carried out by bishops and cardinals in various parts of the world,” the bishop said.
Schneider’s commentary is by no means without evidence. Numerous commentators and theologians have highlighted the state of the Church in Germany as a leading example of heterodoxy being very comfortably tolerated by the Vatican. (The German Synodal Way voted to approve same-sex relationships, female clergy and lay governance of the Church)
Even around the Vatican many moral crises among Curial officials in recent years, and still to this day, are often open secrets amongst local clergy and journalists. One notable instance is of course that Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández’s highly controversial erotic books have been widely publicized in the press, but notwithstanding this the Argentine cardinal was made head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office.
Some leading cardinals violate the Church’s sacramental theology and campaign publicly for female clergy, while others argue for a change in the Church’s doctrine of sexual morality. Hence even just in Rome, there is no shortage of evidence that the Church faces a crisis from within – a crisis of such magnitude that many have questioned how it can be overcome.
For Schneider, it appears that he sees no earthly resolution to this. “In this situation, only divine intervention can help, such as through massive persecution of the Church and the person of the Pope himself by political, anti-Christian global elites.”
Appearing to draw from the example of the early Church which blossomed under persecution, Schneider opined that a modern day persecution could prompt “a merciful, profound conversion of the Pope to Tradition and apostolic courage, as the fruit of the prayers and sacrifices of countless believers, especially the so-called ‘little ones’ in the Church.”
Despite such striking depictions, Schneider rejected claims that the Church has in Herself erred:
“One thing is certain: the Church is always in the almighty hands of God, and Christ is the helmsman of the ship of the Church, even if He is currently sleeping in the boat while it is lashed by violent storms, and the creaking of some rotten planks seems to herald imminent shipwreck, as St. Pope Gregory the Great once put it.
We firmly believe: this time too, Christ will rise and command the storm, and the Holy Roman Church, our Mother, will once again become the lighthouse and the Chair of Truth.”
The auxiliary bishop of Astana is known for his vocal defenses of Church doctrine, but when it comes to the case of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) he is much more than a mere interested observer. Under direct request of the Holy See he served as official Apostolic Visitor to the SSPX in 2015, and hence has unique and rare insight into the relations between the SSPX and the Vatican.
Similar to the SSPX, he rejects the position of sede-vacantism, and explains his forthright commentaries on ecclesial issues as being for the good of the Church and the Pope. In December Schneider met with Leo XIV to raise a number of issues with the Pope, and more lately has issued a public plea to the Pope to approve the Society’s planned consecrations.
Schneider has not given his direct, public support for the Society’s plan to proceed with episcopal consecrations as it stands, but instead has sought to beseech the Pope to approve the consecrations, while also bringing his personal insight of the Society into the larger discussion taking place in the Church.
He has lamented how the question of the Society has divided numerous Catholics, including many who would be naturally aligned with the SSPX in theological and liturgical concerns. Speaking to Certamen, Schneider opined that much of the opposition from fellow Catholics was due to “a false idea of papal infallibility” and “legal positivism” which have become “increasingly widespread.”
Such changes in the Church’s life have enacted a change, whereby “the observation of an ecclesiastical norm is de facto placed above the necessity of preserving the doctrinal clarity and ambiguity of the Catholic faith and liturgy.”
Since the SSPX declined the Holy See’s terms for dialogue – terms which were based on the cancellation of the consecrations – the Vatican has remained silent on the matter. There are now just over three months until the planned consecrations take place on July 1.