Jim Havens: You also write later in your book that we are currently experiencing widespread apostasy among bishops and cardinals. Can you tell us more about what you’re seeing?
Bishop Schneider: We can simply state the facts. Over the decades since the Council, the majority of episcopal appointments made by the Holy See and its nuncios have often favored priests who were not zealous defenders of the integrity of the Catholic faith. Instead, they promoted so-called “compromise candidates.”
These compromise candidates are neither fully committed nor fully opposed; they occupy a middle ground. Such individuals tend to yield to the pressures and attacks of the modern world, compromising the faith, the liturgy, and essential Catholic teaching. Over the past 50 to 60 years, many dioceses were led by these types of bishops.
While they were not necessarily heretics or immoral, they were characterized by ambiguity and a tendency to compromise. This is not the standard of an apostolic man, as we see in the apostles, the Church Fathers, or the great bishops of history. Candidates for the episcopacy, and especially for the cardinalate, should exhibit clarity, courage, and firmness in defending the faith. Unfortunately, the Holy See has often promoted those who fall short of this standard, and we must acknowledge this as a responsibility that rests ultimately with the Holy See.