Michael Voris: Do you think there is a specific role for the laity? An additional role for the laity in this period of crisis in the Church?
Bishop Schneider: Yes, I think this is the hour of the lay people today. This is what the Second Vatican Council had in mind. I think this is now the hour for lay people to confess Christ, to confess those realities which primarily touch lay people, such as marriage and family, which are so often attacked today.
It is not only to bear witness to this before the world, but even inside the Church. Your testimony and witness in the Church matter. This is mysterious because the first witnesses should be the clergy, but now it seems that lay people must, in some sense, strengthen the faith of some clergy and even some bishops.
The Second Vatican Council also taught that lay people have a special mission inside the Church, to contribute to the spiritual good of the broader Church. This is their faith, their responsibility. In this sense, we are very much in line with the vision of the Second Vatican Council when we observe this, as you and your colleagues are doing.