Dr. Robert Moynihan: Hello. We are here today with Bishop Athanasius Schneider, 60 years old, from Astana in Kazakhstan. Bishop Schneider, we had a few questions to ask you about your trip in recent trip to the United States, and then, more generally, about the situation of the Church and the world in late 2021. As we speak, it is October 24, and you have been traveling in the United States for three weeks. Can you tell us briefly about your trip? Where did you go? What have you seen? What struck you, especially what caused your concern?
Bishop Schneider: I had a very positive impression this time. The reason I came was that I was invited by the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh and then by the Call to Holiness Conference in Detroit. These were the main events. I also celebrated a solemn pontifical Mass in honor of Blessed Emperor Karl on October 21 here in Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. area. These were the three main events for which I came to the United States.
I also visited other places, gave conferences, and celebrated holy Masses. I visited the Sophia Press headquarters in New Hampshire, and I had a generally positive impression. I witnessed signs of a true springtime of the Church, because I met so many young families. The Masses and conferences I attended were crowded, and the majority were young people, families, children, youth, and students. It was a joy for a bishop to see so many young people longing to hear the truth, to know the simple Catholic faith, and to participate in the liturgy, the Latin Mass, the traditional Mass of all the ages and of the saints.
I also visited some Catholic colleges and witnessed the same vigor, joy, and longing for the truth of the Catholic faith and liturgy. These were all signs of hope in difficult times. I believe the United States is a country where true tradition is now growing more and more among young people and young families.
Dr. Robert Moynihan: That’s very interesting. Your judgment is very positive, even though at times you have been described as someone quite conservative and outspoken against excesses or departures from the faith. But what you discovered here was really a very positive Catholic Church in the United States.
Bishop Schneider: Yes, among the faithful I met, the young people, and some young priests, I did not find criticism against the Church or against the Second Vatican Council. I did not find anything of this sort in the traditional Masses I attended. They were crowded, and after Mass, we had joyful meetings filled with the joy of the Catholic faith and the beauty of the traditional liturgy.
Therefore, accusations that these faithful are divisive, or against the Council, or critical, are, in such general form, very unjust and uncharitable.
Dr. Robert Moynihan: I wanted to ask about your episcopal motto. It’s a Greek phrase, Kyrie eleison. You are one of the very few Catholic bishops who have a motto in Greek. Almost all of them have a motto in Latin. Can you tell us how you chose this motto, what it means to you, and what it means for all of us?
Bishop Schneider: This motto came to me spontaneously after I was informed of my appointment as a bishop. The nuncio told me to choose a motto, and immediately Kyrie eleison came to my mind. It means “Lord, have mercy on us.” I think that everyone today, and the entire world, most needs the mercy of God.
I chose it in the Greek form because, in the Latin Mass of all ages, we say Kyrie eleison, not Domine miserere. Even in the Latin Mass, we use the Greek phrase. I also chose it because I was appointed bishop in the East. Kazakhstan is in the East, and most Christians there are of the Eastern rite. So I chose this as a bridge between Eastern and Western Christians.
This prayer, Kyrie eleison, this invocation, expresses a prayer that unites us, Eastern Christians, especially Byzantines, and Western Christians, the Holy See of Rome, and the Eastern Churches. These were my thoughts when I chose this motto.
Dr. Robert Moynihan: How would you say your motto in Russian?
Bishop Schneider: In Russian, it would be Gospodi pomiluy. It is also continuously repeated in the Byzantine liturgy in Church Slavonic, Gospodi pomiluy, or in the Greek liturgy, Kyrie eleison.
Dr. Robert Moynihan: So your motto is at the heart of the old Latin liturgy, but it’s not Latin, and it’s also at the heart of the Eastern liturgy, whether spoken in Russian or in Greek. In a way, your heart is liturgical. The heart of your motto as a bishop is liturgical.
Bishop Schneider: Yes, because all beings created by God, all creatures, were created to be liturgical beings.
Dr. Robert Moynihan: And what does that mean?
Bishop Schneider: It means to adore and glorify God. That is the purpose for which God created the world, angels, and humanity, rational creatures made to glorify Him. Therefore, we are essentially liturgical beings. Our existence is liturgical in the broader sense, meaning we exist to glorify and adore God, to give Him the first place.
This is the task of the Church: to adore God worthily, to give Him priority and primacy. As the Apostles said, to give priority to prayer, not to actions or activism, but first to prayer and to official worship, which is the holy liturgy.