Mother Miriam: How do we respond to the Pope when he appears to teach what is against the Catholic faith? What is the place of obedience there? How could so many prelates, bishops, and cardinals not only go against the Catholic faith but also persecute Christians who want to live the truth of the faith? How do we, as sheep, live not only through the persecution growing now within the Church but also in the world, with digital currency, food shortages, the arrest of pro-lifers and faithful parents, and with authorities coming into homes, taking their children, and bringing them to camps? It’s happening here in this state. So how do we live here, Bishop Athanasius Schneider?
Bishop Schneider: To continue the first question of Mother Miriam, regarding the Pope, we must obey the Pope when he commands us to keep the truth, the Catholic faith, unchanging and integral. But if a Pope issues orders or statements that evidently undermine the integrity of the Catholic faith as it has been taught for two thousand years, or if he changes the canonical practice of the Church in a way that undermines the truth, for example, in the case of divorce and marriage, then we cannot obey.
If the Pope, as unfortunately has happened, permits divorced people living in adulterous unions to receive Holy Communion, this undermines the truth of the indissolubility of marriage, which is a divinely revealed truth, and the ineffable sacredness of the Holy Eucharist. In such a case, we cannot obey. We must reverently appeal to the Pope to change this and pray for him.
Our attitude should be obedience in matters that do not directly touch the faith, for example, in juridical or administrative decisions such as the appointment of bishops, the creation of dioceses, or the granting of indulgences. We must distinguish between these two forms of obedience, what directly affects the faith and the unchanging discipline of the Church, and what does not.
Regarding the sacredness of the Holy Liturgy, for instance, the Mass of Ages, the Traditional Latin Mass, the Holy Mass of all the saints, a rite more than a millennium old, the Pope has no authority to abolish it, to limit it, or to discriminate against it. It is not within his power because it is an ancient, venerable, and sanctified prayer of the Church. It belongs to the entire Church of all times. The Traditional Latin Mass is not the private property of any Pope.
Therefore, when the Pope limits this form of the Holy Mass, we cannot obey. We do so out of love for our Holy Mother Church and for the honor of the Apostolic See itself. In this case, we obey the Popes and the Church of all times for the greater good of the Church. We cannot collaborate with anything that evidently harms the Church or deprives souls of such a venerable form of prayer that has produced so many spiritual fruits. This is one clear example.