Michael Voris: A number of very good bishops and cardinals, including Cardinal Burke, have said that it looks like a persecution is coming. What do you think of that?
Bishop Schneider: Yes, it could be. We know the history of the Church. There were many persecutions, even in recent times. You can look at the French Revolution. After that persecution, the Church in France was purified. There was also persecution of the Church in Mexico. The Cristeros, yes. Even so, before those persecutions, there was also a crisis of the clergy, a moral crisis, particularly in Mexico. We should not forget this. I don’t know to what extent, but it was present.
Michael Voris: Does it appear that when things begin to go bad for the Church, it often begins with something going wrong in the clergy, among many of the clergy?
Bishop Schneider: Yes, we can see this throughout the history of the Church. Often, when there was persecution from outside, God used it and permitted it to purify the Church internally. Therefore, we should not be afraid. It is always a time of confession of the faith, a time of martyrs. As Tertullian famously said, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of new Christians. It can also be a purification when God permits it.
Michael Voris: Should Catholics always be ready for martyrdom? Sometimes it feels more immediate, as if something is closer. You always have to be ready to die for the faith, but sometimes you have to be more ready. Do you think we are in one of those times now?
Bishop Schneider: Yes, I think we have already witnessed persecution and martyrdom among our brothers in the Near East, in Syria and Iraq, before our eyes. They were martyred, and this is happening in other parts of the world as well. It could one day approach us. We do not know.
At present, we can also suffer spiritual martyrdom. We may be persecuted morally, not physically, and we are already experiencing moral persecution. We must be prepared for this. With the grace of God, we must increase our faith every day and ask Our Lord to strengthen our faith.
Our Lord said not to worry about what we will say when we are brought before judges, because He will give us wisdom and words at that moment. When we are confident in God and strive to live our Christian life, if it is God’s will that we glorify Him through martyrdom, He will give us the strength. We should not choose martyrdom ourselves. That would be wrong.