Terry Barber: Welcome back. We have Bishop Athanasius Schneider with us. I asked a question about the inerrancy of Scripture. Dr. Scott Hahn did a six-and-a-half-hour class, about six classes that I recorded, and it is available because I am a big believer that when people understand that the Bible is without error, and understand what the Church teaches, it is a game-changer. Bishop Schneider, on page 108, you talked about truthfulness and knowledge based on the authority of God, but you said this language is extremely rare. Why is that?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Divine revelation, which God gave us, He gave through two ways, two sources. It is the written Word of God, the Holy Scripture, and the oral Word of God, the non-written Word of God, which is sacred tradition. Both reveal the truth. Scripture states clearly that sodomy and homosexual acts are condemned by God as an abomination. This is written in both the Old and the New Testament, so clearly that whoever contradicts it is a heretic because he is contradicting the expressed, revealed Word of God. Furthermore, the constant, uninterrupted tradition of the Church for two thousand years has taught that homosexual acts are intrinsically evil in every circumstance. Sodomy is evil, and therefore whoever commits it puts himself in danger of eternal condemnation. This is written in Holy Scripture, and this has been taught by the magisterium of the Church always in the same way.
Therefore, if a cardinal is now saying the contrary, he is committing heresy, in fact, maybe not formally, but in fact, he is committing heresy. He is a heretic, and we have to admonish him. The first to admonish a cardinal is the Pope. He has to admonish him, but he is not doing this. This is our problem, and this is the sadness of the historical hour in which we are living. Therefore, we have to make an amendment for these horrible crimes of bishops and cardinals who are promoting sodomy and other crimes against the law of God and who are promoting the idolatry of anthropocentrism, the idolatry of materialism, and the idolatry of the spirit of this world, which is against Christ. We have to do reparation for these omissions on the part of the high clergy, and respectfully and clearly admonish them, and ask the Pope, please Holy Father, admonish these cardinals who are saying things that directly contradict divine revelation.
Terry Barber: Well said. And I think of Our Lady of Fatima…
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Important, from the letter of the apostle Jude. It is not often read, but the apostle Jude writes in verse four, since there are no chapters in this small letter, that some wrong teachers crept into your communities who are transforming the grace of God into immorality. And this is what this cardinal is doing, who said that homosexuality is acceptable. These words of the apostle Jude apply to him. They infiltrated your communities, teachers who are transforming the grace of God into immorality. In Latin, in the Vulgate, it is gratiam transferentes in luxuriam, which means sexual immorality. They are transforming the grace of God into a license for immorality.
Terry Barber: Well said. We just had Father Wolfgang, one of the members of your congregation, here for a three-day mission on the angels. He told us about making everything a sacrifice in life, reparation, the Church needing lay people to offer up suffering. He referred to the Fatima prayer, Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly, I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended, and through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. This is a prayer all of us should pray, because in the Church right now we have, to be honest, very weak leadership that is not leading us to heaven but in a bad direction. I appreciate your clarity on that point.
And again, about the inerrancy of Scripture, the Bible is without error. For us to say that the Bible states something, but we think differently, is arrogant. That is a problem. My final question is something your book covered, but it has already happened. On page 125, you mentioned that some experts believe women should be given more power in the Church, like Archbishop Weakland, who wanted ordination for women, God rest his soul. There are many people like that. In the Church, it is said that they should have the right to vote in the Synod. How does this fit in the tradition of the Church? I asked if it was possible, and you said it is impossible, but it has happened. The Pope has done this. He appointed a woman. When you wrote the book, it had not yet happened. But four or five weeks ago, this happened. I am asking, although I am not in management, I am in sales, can you give us an answer? Has this ever been done in the Church?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: We have to distinguish. A woman can be a counselor, giving advice. Pious women strong in the Catholic faith, yes. For example, Saint Margaret of Scotland, the queen in the seventh century. She was from Hungary, and when she married the Scottish king and arrived there, the situation with the clergy and the Scottish Church was disastrous. Discipline was lacking, and clergy life was problematic. She asked the bishops to hold a Synod of reform, and she gave very good counsel on how to improve Church life with more discipline and piety. She gave advice, but she did not vote in the Synod. She only gave counsel, holy queen. She was a woman.
Saint Catherine of Siena gave advice to popes, and Saint Brigid of Sweden as well. We need women like this today, a new Margaret of Scotland, a new Catherine of Siena, a new Brigid of Sweden, to give good counsel to the Pope and the bishops to restore purity and integrity of faith, liturgy, and clergy life, and to strengthen marriage and families. This could be the task of women in the Church, but not to give women administrative powers or make them part of the ecclesiastical, clerical structure. This is not worthy of a woman. She should give counsel and be a witness in the family. There is her priesthood as a lay woman in the family, in her maternity and motherhood. Then there are the virgins in the Church, consecrated virgins and consecrated widows. They give a good example in the Church. Together, married women, mothers of families, and spiritual mothers, the consecrated virgins, sisters, and widows, build up the Church. We need them. Thanks be to God, we have such precious women in the Church who edify the Church with their lives, teaching, and fidelity to the Catholic faith. This is the true promotion of women in the Church.
Terry Barber: Amen. I want to mention your website. We have Bishop Joseph Strickland once a week teaching the Catholic faith with his catechism and his messages. I know you also have a website where you teach the fundamentals of the faith. Can you share that with our listeners?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes. Every month on the thirteenth, there is a live catechesis on the site Gloria Dei dot io, and in the other months, I answer questions. So this is a possibility to follow my catechesis.
Terry Barber: Before we ask for your blessing, I want to ask if you could encourage family life today. Well, we have the music coming on. Please give us your final blessing.
Bishop Schneider’s book, The Springtime That Never Came. Go to vmpr.org or call us at 877-526-2151. His other book on our website is The Catholic Mass: Steps to Restoring the Centrality of God in Liturgy. Remember the state we should be living in, the state of grace, and remember what Our Lady of Fatima said, souls are going to hell because no one is there to pray and make sacrifices. Will you make those sacrifices? I will, and I hope you will too. May God richly bless you. And Bishop Schneider, thanks for taking the time to share the good news with our listeners. We will continue praying for your work in Asia and around the world. God loves you.