Jim Havens: Bishop, I’ve got to ask you about Pope Francis. People are wondering what to make of Pope Francis and his pontificate in many different ways; there are lots of different views. It seems to me, from reading your book, that you would probably not go as far as to call or accuse Pope Francis of being a heretic, but you would say that he is promoting various heresies, or maybe you’d only go so far as to say he’s tolerating heresy. In my view, Pope Francis is promoting various heresies. I think you said as much in the book. I’m certainly saddened to say it, as you are. But Amoris Laetitia and the support given to the Argentine bishops are just one example. How do you see it?
Bishop Schneider: Yes, I think he is promoting de facto heresies, not in an explicit or theoretical manner, but de facto, as you mentioned, when he approved the norms of the Buenos Aires bishops regarding the admittance of divorced and remarried people to Holy Communion. He explicitly approved the possibility that they can be admitted to all the sacraments.
Of course, first they had to be encouraged to live in continence, and when that was not feasible or possible, then the door to the sacrament is open, as is stated. The pope approved this, and he even commanded that this should be included in the official Acta Apostolicae Sedis. The Cardinal Secretary of State then said that this act of Pope Francis is part of the ordinary Magisterium.
This is very dangerous. But, as we know, the ordinary Magisterium of the Pope is not always infallible. We have to abandon the wrong opinion that has accumulated over the last centuries, even among pious people and theologians. It was an exaggerated papalism, which was not healthy, a kind of excessive “yes” to the pope. We must return to the sound Catholic understanding of the papacy as transmitted by the Church Fathers.
Because the pope can err in his ordinary Magisterium, and history shows that he has in some cases, only when the pope is speaking ex cathedra explicitly, and he must clearly state it, then he has the assistance of the Holy Spirit to be kept from error. This is a negative assistance: the Holy Spirit ensures that ex cathedra pronouncements on faith and morals will not be erroneous. It does not mean that it is the best possible expression, only that it will not be wrong. This is the meaning of the dogma of papal infallibility.