Host: Bishop said he would be glad to answer any questions.
Question: You mentioned in your talk that sometimes, even in the clergy, you come across someone who espouses political correctness. How do you deal with that yourself or with other bishops or cardinals who are devout like you are?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: First, for me, it is sad to witness such a phenomenon, but it has always been in the Church at all times, and maybe it will continue. Even clerics betray Christ out of love for the world. To please the world, they betray Christ. It was since Judas, but the witness of the holy priests and bishops is stronger.
Question: What is the climate like in the Vatican now?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes. I mean, the Church is alive. In some periods of history, it lives more in the periphery. In some way, you are also here in the periphery. So I came to the periphery, and Pope Francis likes peripheries, so I came to the periphery.
Question: Thank you for defending the Apostolic Faith and also for defending the Society. Do you see that as part of the solution, as the social reign of Christ the King and getting an apostolic history, and would it be implemented in a greater way?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, the Society of Pius X, the Holy See, and the Pope himself have a strong wish to give the Society of Pius X a canonical structure, a canonical recognition. I was also asked by the Holy See to help with this issue, and I could help a little. I hope it would, without doubt, be a benefit for all. When the Society of Pius X has a legal public place in the Church, it will be a benefit for themselves and for the entire Church because they will represent a strong community that substantially lifts the faith, morals, and liturgy of our ancestors and fathers of all ages. It would be a new missionary and evangelizing force in the Church against this weakening of faith and confusion. So I hope and pray, and I ask for your prayers, that this could be realized in the near future.
Question: Next year will be one hundred years since Fatima, October 13. We know that Mary has promised, as Queen of Heaven and Earth, that if you consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, we will have a time of peace. Do you see this as a possibility, maybe in a miraculous way, that this could happen? Do you see something going on that could mean maybe next year this could happen?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, I think it would be very good and would bring a lot of grace for the Church and for humanity. This is my personal opinion: when the Pope consecrates Russia explicitly in the form in which Our Lady demanded it in Fatima, explicitly naming Russia, with the moral unity of all the bishops, without doubt, there will be a reign of grace. I hope that it can be done. I do not know when it will be done. I do not know if next year. It is in the hands of God. I do not know, but it is my wish that this should be done.
Question: Could you share with us some signs of hope that you have seen in your travels around the world, in the growth of tradition and in Christ the King in Europe, and specifically in Russia? Do you see some good signs happening in Russia?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: First, your first question. I am traveling almost all over the world, and I am visiting, as I said, the peripheries like yours, where the traditional faith and liturgy are kept, growing, and flourishing. In these places, there are young families, children, young people, young clergy, and seminarians. The Church is alive and flourishing in these places. I am witnessing that even the traditional form of the Mass is spreading over the world. It is slow but spreading. It is a process. Even in places where it has never been, people discover this treasure, which has always been in the Church. This, for me, is a sign of the Holy Spirit, the spreading of the traditional Mass, the form restored by Pope Benedict XVI in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. It is bearing evident fruit, and I am convinced that no one can stop it anymore.
Regarding Russia, I can say, from the point of view of public life, that religion is now more visible in society. For example, they are building new churches and monasteries everywhere, and the government supports this. The Russian government allows chaplains in the army, which was impossible in the Soviet Union. Now there are Orthodox priests celebrating Masses in the army and prisons. This is a sign in public life that the presence of Christianity in a once-atheistic country is growing. For me, this is a sign, maybe, of the conversion of Russia, which Our Lady in Fatima predicted, step by step. Of course, Russian society still has problems such as alcoholism and abortion, but nevertheless, there are signs we must recognize.
Question: My question is, what are we as lay people supposed to do in the face of a hierarchy that seems to be hostile toward the social?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, first, we have to pray for them, maybe for their conversion. It is not forbidden, and it is beneficial. If a member of the hierarchy is offended that I am praying for his conversion, then he claims he has no sin, that he is without sin. Only a person without sin can say, “I don’t need conversion.” We can pray for their conversion and then hold on to our convictions and our faith. Say, “I know in whom I believe.” I have my Catechism, and you have the Baltimore Catechism. It clearly states the faith. The new Catechism also has clear statements. You know this, keep faithful to it, and be apostles spreading the truth.
Question: Your Excellency, what was the most influential reason for you to become a traditional priest? We see so many priests and bishops who are not fortunate for the tradition.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: What was influential for me was the enormous grace in my life that I was born in a Catholic family and received the Catholic faith, as they say, with my mother’s milk. This is the greatest grace of my life. So please, mothers here present, give your children the Catholic faith with your milk. This is the root of everything. I also grew up partly in the underground Church during the persecution in the Soviet Union. This experience marked my soul profoundly with the truth of the Catholic faith and reverence for it. Thanks be to God, this was given to my soul as a child and young adolescent. I always kept this in my life. There was no break; it was continuous since my childhood. I loved the reverence and beauty of the liturgy. It was so normal for me. When Pope Benedict XVI issued the Motu Proprio, it was a joy for me to celebrate Mass in the fuller manner of the tradition. I celebrated the new Mass, and I still celebrate it in my diocese, but in the spirit of the traditional Mass.
Question: Did you see any trends in the Church?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, the manner of receiving Holy Communion, for example, in the great majority of churches all over the world, is still very sad. Receiving in the hand and standing shows, at least externally, a lack of reverence. It opens the door to many sacrileges. For me, it is the deepest wound in the Mystical Body of Christ, the phenomenon of Communion in the hand with all its consequences. We have to begin healing from here. Therefore, I wrote my two books on this topic. It is always a joy when people tell me that after reading my book, they stopped receiving Communion in the hand. It consoles me, not because I wrote the book, but because I am happy that Jesus is treated with more reverence. This is my joy.
Question: How do you handle people and politicians, for example, one who is running now, who says they are Catholic and do not approve of abortion, but do not think it is right to force others to be against it?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: We cannot force anyone to do good, but we must give witness that abortion is a crime, it is murder. We have to say this always. When someone supports the murder of innocent lives and says, “I am a Catholic,” that is a lie. He is not a Catholic. We have to state this.
Question: Why aren’t they excommunicated?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: They have to be excommunicated. Not only them, but everyone who actively and directly supports the killing of innocent people has to be excommunicated. It is evident.
Question: Yes, Your Excellency. I just want to follow up on a question before about Russia and the situation in Russia and Eastern Europe versus Western Europe. In particular, Mr. Putin has visited the Mount Athos monastery a number of times. He has been openly supportive of the Christian faith, the Orthodox faith, and presumably the Catholic faith as well. What do you see, not just in Russia, but also in the old Soviet bloc? It seems to be moving more towards traditional values versus the West, which seems to be crumbling morally. How do you see this dynamic, and do you see it as something genuine or maybe more politically motivated?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, I think, for example, in Eastern Europe, or in Russia and Kazakhstan, where I am living in the east, at least in public life and among the people, they still have a very deep conscience of natural law. Concretely, for example, the issue of gender ideology. This is impossible, unthinkable, for example, in my country or in Russia, to recognize same-sex unions or to in any way approve homosexual activity. This is written in the hearts of these people. This demonstrates the natural law, which God inscribed in our hearts, whereas the West, Western civilization, is trying, through ideology and power, to reshape minds. This is like a dictatorship, and they have to protest against it. I think it is not a political issue. Every country seeks political advantages, of course, but we must acknowledge this good phenomenon. It is real, and we must recognize it.
Question: Under this pontificate, there seems to be a resurgence in the seamless garment, or the consistent ethic of life, as it is called. Recently, I’ve even seen some articles suggesting that those who support the consistent ethic of life are not backing away from prioritizing abortion, but I don’t see how it is backing away. Could you address that?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: I have not well understood your question. Can you formulate it more simply?
Question: Sure. The seamless garment, the ideology Cardinal Bernadine supported 23 years ago, said that all life issues are equal. So whether it’s housing, food, or abortion, they are all addressed equally. This concept has arisen again under this pontificate, the consistent ethic of life. There was an article saying that those who support this are not backing away from the priority of abortion. But it seems to me that unless you prioritize something, you are backing away. You can’t give all issues equal weight. You have to focus on the most important.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, of course. This is a kind of relativization. We cannot put on the same level the immorality of directly killing an innocent person and issues like ecology, climate change, or improving medical care or food. These are not the same. We must stress this.
Question: Your Excellency, how do you feel about the Pope celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation on the same day as Our Lady’s final apparition? Do you think this could be an impetus for a possible schism in the Church later on?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: First, I am very sad that this happened. It should not have happened. It is, in some way, an approval of Luther’s heresies, which are evident. We cannot approve them in any way, even implicitly, and we cannot celebrate the division of the Church, which happened 500 years ago. It is nothing to celebrate; it is a tragedy. We cannot celebrate a movement of heresies and division in the Church. I do not think this will cause antisemitism. We already live in a Church with many differences and contrasts between priests, bishops, cardinals, and local churches. This is already, in some sense, a de facto phenomenon of schism. For example, in one diocese in Europe, divorcees can receive Communion; in another, it is forbidden. Yet we remain one Catholic Church.
Question: Could you share your thoughts on why there seems to be a silence on the concept of evil and hell, specifically hell? It seems there is a new theological trend in the Western Church suggesting a probable hope that everyone goes to heaven.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, this phenomenon has been developing over decades, and now it is more stressed. It is not true that all go to heaven. This is an illusion and contradicts the words of our Lord. Our Lord said the way to perdition is wide, and the way to salvation is narrow, and few follow it. We must believe His words. Otherwise, it is a spiritual crime to tell someone they will go to heaven, putting them at risk of being lost for eternity.
Question: On abortion and miscommunication, so many things, like shopping or Food, gas, or counseling children into jobs, it’s getting harder to find places that don’t support these organizations. How would you suggest we find or live today, and counsel our children so that we’re not also giving to these organizations through purchasing our food?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Well, we live in a pagan society. As St. Paul wrote in the first century to Christians, “You shall be like lights in the midst of a corrupted and perverted society, shine like stars.” This guides our faith and moral life. Of course, when a company is clearly immoral, we cannot participate. But when an activity is not directly connected with immorality, it may be possible, though we are not approving of everything. It depends on the extent. We cannot live completely isolated; we are in a pagan society.
Regarding the relationship with the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, I have a lot of contact because I live among a large Orthodox population. Substantially, we have the same faith. Ultimately, we are divided on the primacy of the Pope. When discussing with Orthodox priests and bishops, we can agree on doctrines like conception or purgatory. The final point is the primacy of the Pope. It would be good to unite, but I think at this time, on this earth, it is not possible because of original sin still present in everyone. To my understanding, we may come closer. Through discussion and explanation, some may join the fullness of the Catholic faith. This is true ecumenism, not false ecumenism that says, “You can stay where you are.” This would be a betrayal of truth. We must help them, not force them. It would be a real benefit, but the Orthodox Church is too involved in politics. Perhaps the Russian government could help the Patriarch reconcile with the Pope; sometimes this has helped in the past.
Question: Yes, Your Excellency. I was thinking about your talk today on the social Kingship of our Lord. I thought about when Jesus said, when trapped by the Pharisees, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” How do we do this joyfully in our present situation, in our parish, in our families? How can we live a program of life so that we are not just in our own little cocoon, which I love, but also go out into the world? How do we deal with people who do not know Christ? Do we just focus on our own family, rendering to Caesar and God?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: First, we must give witness, simple, sometimes silent, of our Christian faith in the midst of a pagan society. People notice when you are not pagan, when you are Christian. Those with a conscience will ask questions and seek the truth. Speak clearly, with love, and you will help them. This is love for neighbor: instruct them in the truth. Invite them to church, to catechesis. Be apostles. Do not be afraid.
Question: Say, first of all, thank you for the conviction of your statements. It’s really refreshing. So many times I’ve heard many friends speak in a gray manner, and it worries me that I hear this deceit in teaching dogma in the future years. Maybe I’m overthinking, but this fear that the Church itself can change?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Forever, by the grace of God, of course, the Church will always remain the same, because it’s the work of God, not of man. If the Church were a human institution, it would have failed long ago. But since it is divine, with Jesus as the captain of the boat, it will not perish. The teaching of the Church, the liturgy, and its doctrines will always remain unchangeable.
Now, at times, confusion can arise regarding doctrine, morals, and liturgy. We are witnessing such a period now, but it is relatively short. Simultaneously, a “new periphery” is renewing the Church, defending, and passing down the teachings we received from our forefathers to the young generation, you, and then you will pass them on further.
This is a beautiful task. The most important thing is that we remain Catholics. I’ll tell a story: A bishop from Kazakhstan, who lived in the underground Church during communism, once met a cardinal in Rome. The cardinal enumerated all his titles to impress the bishop. The bishop simply asked, “Are you Catholic?” The cardinal replied, “I am trying to be.” Let us simply strive to be Catholic. That is most important.
Question: How important do you see our upcoming election being for the stability of our nation, from an outsider’s perspective?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: I am not American and not familiar with all local politicians, but from what I observe, the methods of the electoral campaign seem very similar to a dictatorship. Choices appear constrained, ultimately limiting freedom. We live in a pagan society.
Question: We ask for clarification, as we pray for this. You boldly asked for it. Do you suspect it will eventually be done?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: The clarification of Morris Letitia, which I asked for in April. Unfortunately, it came worse, and that even in the Diocese of the Pope in Rome in September, vehicle cardinal, a cardinal presented pastoral orientations, which ultimately allow divorce to go to Communion. It is diverse, but what we can do, we can have, in this situation, to state, to publicly and confess our faith in the unchanging truth on marriage, we know of the previous and continuous magisterium of the church. And there is a good initiative that I will recom, would like recommend to you in the internet, which on this I am speaking with the name declaration of fidelity, to the unchanging truth on marriage, declaration of fidelity, you can find this in the website, filial appeal, porn.org, and There you can give your signature and support this until today.
This started last, last month. Until today, it has more or less 6200 signatures. And the first group that published this statement, this declaration, there were 80 personalities. I was one of them, 83 cardinals, three priests, three bishops, several priests, and so on, from all over the world, 80 personalities as the first signatures of this document; in some way, I was collaborating in the draft of this document. So I recommend this to you. This is a public statement. For example, we maintain the truth that. And then in 2027, statements, and every statement is then, how do you say document it with the quotations of the magisterium. It is not our statement. This is the magisterium.
And so you can do and, and and print. You can copy this text and print this and have something in your hands, and then pray that the pope may at least issue, I think that the bishops, in view of this very grievous situation of the Diocese of Rome and other dioceses, who now already make norms to the. To officially give Communion to the adulterers. I mean, this is it is very, very grievous, very grave. And I think in the face of this situation, in my opinion, is that the bishops had to make a public request to the Pope to stop this filial appeal. Written, it says one word, filial appeal.org
Question: Why do you think so many priests and bishops do not fully uphold Catholic tradition? Why are so many wishy-washy?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: This is a good question. May sometimes put this question directly to them, not to me. But I think that, you know, I think this is the to, my opinion, the reason is this, the weak faith, the personal weak faith of these people, of these priests or bishops, the weak relationship with Christ, your own, your conviction, and so they are yielding, and so out of personal advantages, maybe yes.
Question: When there’s laxity in discipline, such as allowing Communion for the divorced, how can this be reversed? Is there a way, aside from a miracle?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, I said, No, we have to, therefore we made this declaration of fidelity, to spread this, to give to priests and so on, and to pray, ultimately that the pope may stop this, and he must stop this. Have to pray. I don’t see other, other ordered bishops, because the bishops are the colleagues of the pope in the collegiality. The bishops are members of the magisterium, only the bishops. And so in my opinion, the bishops have, in this very serious situation, an extraordinary duty to admonish the pope reverently but publicly to stop this, and then to pray that God may intervene, Your Excellency.
Question: My daughter noticed you are wearing pink and purple. What do the colors mean?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Well, I don’t know why the results are wearing purple. The Cardinals have another color this year. I know this is more like the blood for the testimony of the Cardinals has to be, have to be faithful and ready to give their life, their blood, for the truth and for the church and for the Pope, and therefore they have these red cassocks, but I don’t know why I am dressing in this. But this is very it is very secondary.
Question: What are your thoughts on the future of European society if the Muslim population continues to grow?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: This is serious. We are witnessing the mass Islamization of Europe, which has been ongoing for decades but is now highly visible. This is part of a global political agenda, aiming to destroy Europe culturally and religiously, and ultimately Christianity, through demographic changes.
Mathematics and demographics indicate that in 30–40 years, Muslims could become the majority in Europe due to higher birth rates, while native Europeans have very low birth rates. Perhaps God allows this so that Christianity, surrounded by Islam, may undergo purification. Purification is sometimes a good thing.
Host: Thank you so much for coming. Please come back again soon and send more like you here.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Thank you. I would like to extend this blessing to all your members of your families and those whom you want to pray for them also.
Dominus vobiscum, et cum, spiritu tuo. Et benedictio dei omnipotentis, Patris et Filii et spiritus Santi descendant, super vos et maneat semper