Transcript:
Mr. Murphy: I’ll invite His Excellency to say the opening prayer. So if you could please stand again.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
So Your Excellency, Reverend Fathers, ladies and gentlemen, you’re all most welcome this evening. Thank you for turning out in such fantastic numbers. We’ve been very blessed in this visit. We were in Belfast last night with Canon Laboque at the Institute, and we were able to attend a beautiful Mass offered by His Excellency in the beautiful chapel in Belfast, which was packed, standing room only.
The day before, we were over in England in Bletchley in the Diocese of Northampton. The priest there had asked his bishop for permission for His Excellency to offer Mass in the extraordinary form. He said to his bishop, I think I should ask you, in the current climate, for permission. The bishop said to him, Father, you are the pope in your parish. I give you my blessing.
So we were able to, but then God sent us another good problem. We had too many for the parish church, so we had to move into the school hall. We had a great crowd and a beautiful altar, which, even though it was in the church hall, was far more beautiful than many parish churches I’ve been in.
So we had a beautiful Mass there, and we have had three really, really lovely days. I think He chose us one thing. We hear lots of issues and problems in the Church, and it’s very clear that the Church is in a deep crisis, a crisis of ambiguity, a crisis of lack of faith, a crisis of lack of zeal, and in some places, a crisis of lack of belief in God.
The Church is going through a deep, deep crisis at the moment, but the light is tradition is alive and well. The numbers that turn out to these conferences, especially the young families that attend the traditional Mass from many different races, show that this is not just a Mass for European white people; there are Chinese, there are Asians. In England, there were many Africans attending with great zeal and great adoration and worship for our Lord, bringing their families. It shows us one thing: the future of the Church is with tradition, and no matter how powerful a Cardinal or Bishop tries to suppress tradition, God has other plans, and these plans of men will not succeed in overthrowing the will of God. It is very clear to see this with the number of vocations in traditional seminaries, and the growing number of traditional Masses now available despite the restrictions. The future is with tradition. We should thank God for that, and we should be delighted that we’re here and able to see it. Celebrate that fact together.
Just a couple of words of housekeeping. We have some books at the back, and we have some copies of the Catholic Voice at the back. Please take those away and leave a donation if you can. We don’t want to take any of them home with us. Take them, give them to your families, give them to your friends, give them to your parish priests. But we certainly do not want to take anything back, so please clear the tables at the end.
I’ve said enough now. You didn’t come to hear me speak, but what we will do as well is have time for some questions at the end. However, so that we don’t fall into the trap of just a few people asking questions, and then the questions can often become a mini conference in themselves, what I’ll do is leave some papers here on the table. When His Excellency has finished his conference, we will have a short break. So if anyone has any questions, come up and write them on paper, and we will select a few questions for His Excellency to answer.
And so now, without further ado, I will introduce Bishop Athanasius Schneider to you. Many of you don’t really need an introduction as such because you will know his work. I highly recommend his latest book, which is called Credo. It’s a compendium of the Catholic faith, and it is essential reading for these times. It’s a beautiful book.
Unfortunately, you will not be able to buy it at the moment because the first edition sold out within the first few days of print. The second edition is now with the printers and will be available in the next few weeks. The easiest way to get it will be through the Catholic Voice, but you can also get it on Amazon or one of the online stores. I really do believe in it. I was grateful to His Excellency for giving me a copy of it, and I’ve had a chance to look at it. And it really is, it will become a Catholic classic, and it will become one of the greatest books of our time and one of the most urgently needed. It sets out our faith in simple questions with answers that we, the faithful, need for our spiritual food.
It also has two indexes at the back. It has an index of subjects, so if you want to look at a particular subject that you’re interested in or struggling with, you can easily find the answer with the index. But even more important, it has an index of errors. There are things in there like yoga, modernism, paganism, New Age, all of the heresies, all of the errors. You can refer to the Church documents to answer those questions as well. So I highly recommend it.
Of course, His Excellency is no stranger to living in a Church that is persecuted. His Excellency grew up in the Soviet Union when the Church was persecuted by the communists.
Now, sadly, we sometimes find ourselves returning to the catacombs, as we are persecuted sometimes from within the Church. Another thing I would ask you to do is pray for our bishops and pray for the Holy Father, because prayer is the only answer to our current crisis.
We have to renew our prayers and implore God for divine intervention, and we have to pray for every bishop. Bishop Schneider and others like him, Bishop Strickland, have become missionary bishops, and they become missionary bishops because many bishops remain silent instead of teaching and feeding poor people like ourselves who need to be fed with the truth.
What I would like to do now is invite His Excellency to inspire us with his words tonight, to give us great zeal so that we can fearlessly live our Catholic lives as true Catholics and true witnesses of Christ.
His Excellency: Thank you very much, Mr. Murphy, for your kind words of greeting and your invitation to speak here. I greet all of you, my dear priests here, and my dear brothers and sisters.
I would like to share with you this evening some thoughts about the beauty and immutability of the Catholic faith. I would like to encourage you to be proud of our Catholic faith, which is the most precious and the most beautiful gift that God has granted us.
The Catholic faith is indeed not the private property of the shepherds of the Church, nor of the bishop of a diocese, nor even not of the Pope. It is not his private property. The Catholic faith is greater. The Catholic faith precedes the pastors of the Church and transcends them, because the shepherds of the Church, the pope, the bishops, are the first ones who must obey the Catholic faith and transmit it integrally without ambiguity to the faithful.
The Catholic faith belongs to all times, to all places, to all generations of Catholics, starting with the apostles and going through all the Fathers of the Church, the doctors of the Church, and all the saints. We know the Catholic faith cannot admit a change or a rupture or a reinterpretation into another meaning than it has been constantly believed and taught throughout 2,000 years.
Nowadays, we can state the introduction of such changes and ruptures in the presentation of the truth regarding doctrine and morals to hide these changes under a mask. They are used by some clergy, even high clergy, seductive expressions such as the hermeneutic of continuity, synodality.
This is the obvious sense of changes that contradict the constant belief and practice of the Church. In such situations, you should say, I know my Catholic faith. I will not permit it to be confused, even by virtue, no, for the sake of this Catholic faith, with God’s grace, I am ready to die for ambiguity. No one will die, but for truth, yes, for divine truth.
There is a fact that must last until the end of time. It is the preservation of the Church through time without mixture in its doctrine, without alteration in its hierarchy. A thousand great human things have been created, developed, and then fallen into decadence, but the Church is still standing. God supports it directly, and every man of good faith able to apply the laws of analogy can read in the facts which concern it, the Church, this immortal promise given to the Church to last until the end of times, which the Church bears written by the hand of the incarnate God on its base.
Heresies, scandals, defections, revolutions, nothing could destroy the Church. Repulsed from one country, the Church advanced and grew in another country, always visible, always Catholic, always conquering, and always tested. This fact shows the essence of humanity, that is to say, the vocation of the human race given by God. And this is the vocation to supernatural life, not only this short, natural, earthly life.
God has not called us to be only concerned with this short life. He calls us to the supernatural, eternal life. Also, the nations on Earth do not belong only to God as the Creator who created the first human family, but all the nations also belong to Jesus Christ, the King. He must be the king of all nations. This is the truth which the Church has always proclaimed since the beginning.
Saint John Henry Newman said this, according to him. He wrote this in 1834, and you will notice how prophetic these words are: “Like God, the Church of God on earth will be greatly reduced, as we may well imagine, in its apparent numbers in the times of Antichrist by the open desertion of the powers of the Lord.
This desertion will begin in a professed indifference to any particular form of Christianity under the pretense of universal toleration, tolerance. Each tolerance will proceed from not a true spirit of charity but from a design to undermine this journey by multiplying and encouraging sects and heresies, idolatries.
The pretended toleration will grow far beyond a just toleration, for governments will return an indifference to all. From the toleration of the most pestilent heresies, they will proceed to the toleration of Islam, of atheism, and at last, to a positive persecution of the Catholic truth.
The merely nominal Christians will all desert the true faith when the powers of the world deserve it.” And this tragic event I take to be typified by the order to St. John, who wrote in the Book of Revelation to measure the temple and the altar and leave the altar court. This means the national churches, the schismatic churches, and the heresies are to be trodden under the feet of the pagans.
The property of the clergy, the Church, will be pillaged. Public worship will be insulted and vilified by these deserters of the faith they once professed, who are not called apostates because they never were in earnest in their profession. They were only nominal Christians.
Their profession was nothing more than a compliance with fashion. In principle, they were always what they now appear to be: pagans.
And this general assertion of the faith takes place. There will commence the sackcloth ministry of the witnesses of God. They will have no support from governments, no honors, but they will have that power that cannot be taken away from them, which they derive from Jesus Christ, the faith commissioned them to be witnesses. End of quotation of John Henry Newman, who wrote in 1834 already.
There will be a promotion of Islam in European countries, a promotion of atheism, a persecution of the Catholic faith, and John Henry Newman saw the special danger of the future times in the spread of the plague of infidelity and unbelief.
In a sermon from 1873, John Henry Newman says Christianity is superhuman in its origin. It differs from all other religions as man differs from animals, so does Christianity differ from the superstitions, from heresies, from philosophies which are around it.
It has a theology and a moral system of its own. This is its indestructible idea. How are we to secure and perpetuate in this world that gift from faith from above? How are we to preserve the Christian people, this gift so special, so divine, so easily lost amid imposing falsehoods which the world in our day abounds with?
All times have their special trials, which others have not. And so far, I will admit that there were certain specific dangers to Christians in the past times in other times, which will not exist in our time, doubtless. But still admitting this, I think that the trials which lie before us are such as to root abound and make dizzy even such courageous hearts as some Athanasius, some Gregory the Great, and Gregory the Seventh.
Today, we would confess that dark as the prospect of the old day was to them severally, ours, our time is a darkness different in kind from any that has been before. He spoke these verses in 1873. What would he say today?
And he continues in his sermon: The special danger of the time before us is this part of the plague code of infidelity, and at least a shadow of a typical image of the Last Times is coming over the world. I do not mean to presume to say that this is the last time, but that it has had the evil prerogative of being like that more terrible season when it is said that the elect themselves will be in danger of falling away from the faith.
A sound, accurate, complete knowledge of Catholic theology is the best weapon after a good moral life in controversy. Any child well instructed in the Catechism is, without intending it, a real missionary. And why? Because the world is full of doubting and uncertainty and of inconsistent doctrine. Therefore, a clear, consistent idea of the revealed truth of God cannot be found outside the Catholic Church. Consistency and completeness are persuasive arguments for a system being true. Certainly, if it is inconsistent, it is not the truth. So John Henry Newman, in a sermon from the second of October, 1873. Hilaire Belloc presented, already in 1938, an almost prophetical analysis of the current situation that Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, has to face, and in which her mission of proclaiming the truth will be its primary importance. I quote Belloc:
The modern attack against the Church is a wholesale assault upon the fundamentals of the faith, upon the very existence of the faith, and the enemy now advancing against us is increasingly conscious of the fact that there can be no question of neutrality.
The forces now opposed to the faith are designed to destroy it. The battle is henceforth engaged upon a definite line of dealing involving the survival or destruction of the Catholic Church and not a portion of its philosophy. We know, of course, that the Catholic Church cannot be destroyed.
The truth is becoming, every day, so much more obvious that within a few years, it will be universally admitted. I do not entitle the modern attack “Antichrist,” though in my heart, I believe that to be the true term for it. No, I do not give it that name because it will seem, for the moment, exaggerated. But the name doesn’t matter. Whether we call it the modern attack or Antichrist, it is all one.
There is a clear issue now joined between the retention of Catholic morals, Catholic tradition, and authority on the one side, and the active effort to destroy them on the other side. The modern attack against the Church will not tolerate us Catholics. It will attempt to destroy us. That great modern attack, which is more than healthy, is indifferent to self-contradiction. It is merely averted. It advances like an animal, counting only on strength.
Indeed, it may be remarked in passing that this may well be the cause of its final defeat. Hitherto, reason has always overcome its opponents, and man is the master of the Beast through reason. Yet, the modern attack on the Catholic Church, the most universal that she has suffered since her foundation, has so far progressed that it has already produced social, intellectual, and moral forms, which, combined, give it the savor of a kind of religion.
But reason today is everywhere decried. The ancient process of conviction by argument and proof is replaced today by reiterated affirmation. Almost all the terms that bred the glory of reason carry with them now an atmosphere of contempt. See what has happened, for instance, to the word “logic,” to the right “controversy.”
Note such popular phrases as “No one yet was ever convinced by argument,” or this phrase, “Anything may be proved,” or “That may be all right in logic, but in practice, it is very different.” These speeches of men are becoming saturated with expressions that everywhere call out a contempt for the use of intelligence.
When reason is dethroned, not only faith is dethroned, because the two go together, reason and faith, but also every moral and legitimate activity of the human soul is dethroned. There is no God.
So the words “God is truth,” which the mind of Christian Europe used as a postulate in order to act, now cease to have meaning. None can analyze the rightful authority of government, nor set bounds to it, in the absence of reason. Political authority, reposing on mere force, is boundless. Reason is thus made a victim because humanity itself is what the modern attack is destroying in its false religion of humanity. Reason, being the crown of man, and at the same time his distinguishing mark, the anarchists march against reason as the principal enemy. Either we of the faith shall become a small, persecuted, neglected island on the sea of mankind, or we shall be able to lift, at the end of the survival, the old battle cry: Christus Vincit. Lastly, there is this burning part of the decisive consideration of all the social strengths of Catholicism: in numbers, certainly, and in most other factors as well, it is declining throughout the world. The issue, as between Catholicism and the completely new pagan thing, is now clearly marked. End of quotation: Belloc, 1938.
And so, I would quote now the famous Archbishop Fulton Sheen. He spoke these words: “If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along with the world. In other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, he must still be hated as he was when he was on earth. If you would find Christ today, you then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims infallibility, as Pilate rejected Christ because Christ called Himself the truth. If the Church is unpopular with the Spirit of the Lord, then it is unworldly; the Church, then, is otherworldly. Since the Church is otherworldly, she is infinitely loved and infinitely hated, as was Christ Himself.” So, Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Juan Donoso Cortés, a Spanish Catholic writer and apologist from the 19th century, explained perspicaciously the unique mission of God given to the Church, which makes the Church indestructible.
“The Catholic Church, considered as a religious institution, has exercised the same influence on society that Catholicity, considered as a doctrine, has on the road. The same way our Lord has exercised on man. This consists in the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ, His doctrine, His Church, are but three different manifestations of one and the same thing, that is, of the divine action operating supernatural reality on man and all his powers on society. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Catholicity, and the Catholic Church are one and the same world.
The doctrine of the Church is marvelous and true because it is the doctrine taught by the great master of all truth and the great worker of all wonders. And yet the world studies in the halls of error and lends an attentive ear to the vain eloquence of miserable sophists and obscure clouds. She received from her divine founder the power of working miracles, and she works them. She herself is a perpetual miracle, and yet the world calls the Church away and chains her for superstition, and she is made a spectacle to many nations. Her own children, beloved with such love, raise their sacrilegious hands against their tender mother.
They abandoned their bulwark, their herbs which protected their infancy, the apostate Catholics, and the Church. Suppress for a moment an imagination that life, those truths, those prodigies, and invincible testimonies of the Church, and you shall have at one stroke suppressed all her tribulations, all her tears, all her miseries, and all her words in the truth the Church proclaims the mystery of her tribulation. The tribulation is when she proclaims the truth; she is persecuted.
In the supernatural strengths the Church possesses, there lies the mystery also of her victory. The victories of the Church and the tribulations go together. Ancient and modern institutions are only the expression of two different societies because they are the expression of two different humanities. Hence, the Catholic societies prevaricate and fall, paganism immediately invades them, and ideas, customs, institutions, and societies become pagan. The Church acts on society in a manner distinct from that of the other political and social elements. Different, and besides, in a manner peculiarly her own. Considered as an institution born in time and localized in space, her influence was visible and limited like that of other institutions.
But considered as a divine institution, the Church has, in her, an immense supernatural power which influences beyond time and space.”
So true is this that, in the critical confusion of all social elements, the Church gave something exclusively her own to all the others. Roman society, for example, on coming into contact with the Church and the Gospel, became, without ceasing to be Roman, something it had not been before it became Catholic. Similarly, the German peoples, without ceasing to be German, became something they had not been before they became Catholic. European civilization was not called German, or Roman, or absolute, or feudal. European civilization was, and was called, Catholic civilization.
That something supernatural, Divine, is one that submitted the world to truth. Taught by the Church, it surmounted the most invincible obstacles. It brought into subjection to her rebel intellects and proud hearts, elevated the Church above human vicissitudes, and securely influenced all nations.
No one who does not keep in view the sovereign and divine virtue of the Church will ever comprehend her influence, her victories, and her tribulations. True progress consists in submitting the human element, which corrupts liberty, to the divine element, which purifies liberty.
Society has followed different paths: in looking upon the empire of faith as that which should reign, and in proclaiming the empire of reason and the will of man, it has made evil which was only relative, contingent. This period of rapid progression commenced in Europe with the restoration of pagan literature, which brought about, successively, the restoration of pagan philosophy, pagan religion, and political paganism.
The Davison society, forgetting the doctrinal decisions of the Church, has asked the press and the tribunals and news writers, “What is truth, and what is error?” On that day, error and truth are confounded in all intellects. Society entered the regions of shadows and fell under the empire of fictions.
The doctrinal intolerance of the Church has saved the world from chaos. Her doctrinal intolerance has placed beyond question political, domestic, social, and religious truths, primitive and holy truths. These holy truths are not subject to discussion because they are the foundation of all discussions.
They are truths which cannot be called into doubt for a moment without being lost between truth and error, and with the clear winner of human reason becoming so solid and obscure.
So Pope Pius X stressed very realistically the necessity for the Church in modern times to resist the false prophets. I quote: “Pius X, the implacable enemy of humankind, never sleeps according to the circumstances.”
The enemy changes tactics and language according to the times and the events occurring, yet he is always ready to fight the Church. In fact, the more error, persecuted by the truth, is condemned to hide themselves, the more we must fear the dangerous ambushes behind which this enemy does not hesitate to establish his ever-fatal artillery units.
Thus, we must never abandon ourselves to a false security, or else we risk the condemnations pronounced against the false prophets who proclaimed peace when there was no peace and sang victory while all was calling us to battle. It is therefore necessary at all times and especially now, when a great conspiracy is instigated directly against our Lord Jesus Christ and His supernatural religion, to denounce the false masters of the people who call evil good and good evil, darkness light and light darkness, seducing many intelligences who yield to every new doctrine.
We believe, therefore, that the time has come to speak plainly. A hundred years ago, a Catholic bishop was bound to fulfill his public oath, taken during his episcopal consecration. Every bishop takes this oath, which says: “I promise to maintain the deposit of faith entire and incorrupt, as handed down by the apostles and professed by the Church at all times and everywhere.”
This oath binds every bishop now in the Church. Yet today, some expressions and affirmations by certain bishops and cardinals undermine the Catholic faith. If you could ask them, “Your Excellency, do you remember the oath you gave at your consecration to maintain intact and incorrupt the entire deposit of faith as the Church has always taught?”
This is a solemn oath every bishop takes. But we see some high clergy openly spreading not only heresies but groups of errors.
Therefore, I was compelled to respond to the requests of many sons and daughters of the Church, perplexed by the current doctrinal confusion. To offer help, I prepared this book about which Mr. Anthony Murphy spoke at the beginning Cradle Companion of the Catholic Faith.
Mindful of the episcopal duty to be a nurturer of the Catholic Apostolic Faith, as stated in the canon of the Mass, my intended audience has been God’s little ones. And these are you, my dear brothers and sisters, God’s little ones in the Church, because you are not members of the establishment, you are not part of the ecclesiastical nomenclature. You are the little ones, and for you I wrote this book. Catechisms are, in the words of Pope Benedict XIV from the 18th century, the most useful of institutions for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Pope Pius X, as a cardinal in 1894, wrote these words to the clergy: “We preach too much and teach too little. They must put aside these flooded speeches and preach simply and piously the truth of the Catholic faith, the commandments of God, the teachings of the Gospel.”
This is urgent because it often happens that persons instructed in profane sciences do not know the faith, or at least, do not know it well enough. So think of the good of souls: is this teaching? Because the people thirst for truth. Pious attempts like those of Cardinal Pius X still resonate today. And so, my dear brothers and sisters, the Catholic faith belongs to all times. What should true Catholics do if they are confused, persecuted, or marginalized within the Church today? Saint Vincent of Lerins, a Church Father from the fifth century, gives us useful guidelines:
He said, “If some new teaching seeks to infect not only an insignificant part of the Church but the whole Church, then it will be up to you to cling to antiquity, to the tradition of ancient times. You must consult and interrogate the opinions of tradition.” And so, the Church has always recognized the tradition as the proof.
In any case, you must hold fast. These doctrines of ancient times were always taught not only by one or two but by all the saints equally, openly, and frequently.
Cardinal Robert Sarah spoke last month during the presentation of the book Credo Alone, these words which I quote: “Indeed, a true cacophony reigns today in the teachings of troubled bishops and priests. They seem to contradict each other.” Each one imposes their personal opinion as if it were a certainty. The result is confusion, ambiguity, apostasy, great disorientation, and deep wounds inflicted in the souls of many Christian believers.
In the absence of light, everything becomes confused. It becomes impossible to distinguish good from evil. There is an urgent need to see once again that the Catholic faith is a light. When the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim.
In fact, the light of the Catholic faith is unique, as it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence. When we speak today of a crisis in the Church, it is important to point out that the Church, as the Mystical Body of Christ, continues to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. The sources of theology, and the Church’s doctrinal and moral teaching, remain unchanged and unchangeable.
The Church, as the continuation and extension of Christ in the world, is not in crisis. It is we, the sinful children in Christ, who face crisis. The Church enjoys the promise of eternal life. The gates of hell will never prevail against her.
Today, the crisis of the Church has arrived at a special moment: it is the crisis of the magisterium. Yet the authentic magisterium of the Church is not in crisis, for the authentic magisterium is always in consonance with Tradition.
Cardinal Ratzinger once recalled that St. Francis de Sales, after a long and difficult missionary effort converting Protestants in the Chablais region between Switzerland and France, brought back 17,000 Protestants to the Catholic Church.
At the conclusion of his mission, he wrote in the main town on the arch of the church: “Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, for thou alone hast destroyed all heresies in the world.”
Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, the first Capuchin martyr of the 17th century, martyred by fanatic Protestants in Switzerland, spoke before his death these words: “O Catholic faith, how solid you are, how strong you are! O Catholic faith, how deeply rooted, how firmly founded on a solid rock! Heaven and earth will pass away, but you, O Catholic faith, never will.” So said Saint Fidelis.
Let us humbly ask the Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady, to grant us in our day the grace to be able to say: “I know my Catholic faith. I will not permit myself to be confused in the Catholic faith. With God’s grace, for the sake of this Catholic faith, I am ready to die.”
Thank you for your attention.
Mr. Murphy: Thank you, Your Excellency, for those words and encouragement. I think it is testimony that the little people, the little ones you spoke of, have turned out in such great numbers over these past three days. The lambs hunger for a true shepherd.
Today, in so many places, our shepherds are too busy trying, often naively, to save the planet, and they forget that their prime task is to save souls. So let us pray for our bishops, for the high clergy, and for all our priests, especially our bishops, and remind them of the solemn oath they took to defend the deposit of faith, the unchangeable truth.
As Bishop Schneider said, we men and women cannot change the truth of Christ. We cannot adapt it to modern times, no matter how easy or tempting that path might be. We must stand with Christ and His Church, even when the task seems difficult and we seem alone. But tonight and over these past few days have certainly encouraged me to do more. I hope they encourage you as well. With that, I’d like to give a big round of applause for His Excellency.
And I said it in England, and now here in Ireland as well, we’re going to make this an annual event. In honor of the book written by His Excellency, we’ll call it the Credo Conference. We promise you great speakers, but in order to do that, here’s a little advert: please, when you leave, be as generous with your donations as generous as you can be. We reinvest everything back into the apostolate.
We hope Bishop Schneider will be able to visit us again next year, along with Cardinal Burke. We’ve added a new name to the list, Bishop Strickland.
Let us pray that next year we can book a hall twice this size, with beautiful liturgy alongside the conference. Keep all this in your prayers, and we’ll keep you posted on upcoming events.
Now, I’d like to invite anyone who has a question to please remain here in the room. We’ll take a short natural break of about 10 minutes. The bathrooms are at the back of the hall, on the right. But please, don’t wander off too far, you lambs cannot go wandering away now that you have a good shepherd here! So stay close to the shepherd.
If you want to ask a question, please come up and write it down on the papers provided on the table. This will give His Excellency a chance to rest a bit, and then he’ll answer as many questions as possible when we return.
Thank you. We’ll be back live in 10 minutes.
Mr. Murphy: Thank you, everyone, for coming back and taking your seats. We have some questions for His Excellency, and we also want to thank him for greeting everyone and sharing his powerful message. We’ll try to get through as many questions as possible, and if we miss something, I apologize in advance.
Question (from Kevin, 10 years old): Is it a sin to receive Communion in the hand? And should I receive Holy Communion from an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion?
His Excellency: Receiving Communion in the hand is not inherently a sin. However, when one truly recognizes the greatness and holiness of Our Lord in the Eucharist, one should not receive in the hand. Many people have been wrongly taught to do so by priests, so in their case, God does not impute sin because of that ignorance. But once you understand the holiness of the Eucharist, you should receive it on the tongue, as a sign of reverence.
Regarding receiving from Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, this practice was never part of the Church’s history except during times of persecution, and even then, it was done outside of Holy Mass to bring Communion to prisoners. There is no good reason for this practice during Mass. Many lay ministers are well-meaning and obey the priests, but it would be better to receive from the hands of the priest, who is consecrated for this role.
We hope and pray that in the future, God will restore the proper reverence and practices.
Question: Why do so many bishops and cardinals remain silent in defending the Church and its teachings when they are under attack? Why are so few speaking out and guiding the faithful clearly? Are they fearful or too attached to the world?
His Excellency: It’s better to ask them directly. There are many kinds of bishops and cardinals, and one day each will give an account to the Divine Judge. Some may be fearful of consequences, worried about their career, or influenced by other motivations. But ultimately, they are responsible for their silence or their courage.
Question: As our Catholic churches seem increasingly under state control, is it time to return to the catechumens and build a renewed Church under persecution?
His Excellency: The powers of this world have indeed penetrated even the Church, sometimes reaching high positions. But we must hold fast to the faith and tradition of our forefathers. Here in Ireland, you have the great blessing of your ancestors who kept the faith alive during the penal times, celebrating Mass in hidden places and rocks. This fidelity is an honor for all times for Irish Catholics and should inspire us today to be strong in faith and perseverance.
Question: Can you recall the example of your forefathers in times of trial? If someone today is marginalized, is it still possible to celebrate Holy Mass?
His Excellency: Yes, absolutely. You can recall the example of your forefathers, especially here in Ireland, who celebrated the Holy Mass even in hidden, secret places during times of persecution. If you are marginalized today, you may have to be inventive to find places to celebrate Mass, but always remain in the spirit of the Church, pray for your bishop and the Pope, and avoid sectarian attitudes. Keep the spirit of unity within the Church.
Question: Is the current crisis in the Church partly caused by a lack of response to Our Lady of Fatima’s message?
His Excellency: Our Lady of Fatima first asked for conversion and penance, and not to offend the Lord, who is so greatly offended. She asked us to pray the Rosary and to observe the Five First Saturdays devotion. After the Second Vatican Council, there was less emphasis placed on penance and the Rosary, which diminished these practices. I believe the entire Church must take seriously Our Lady’s call for penance, reparation for sins, and devotion to the Rosary and the Five First Saturdays.
Question: Many Catholics are attracted to Holy Orthodoxy because of its ancient spirituality and consistency, which sometimes seems more robust than that of the Roman Catholic Church. What can Roman Catholicism learn from Orthodoxy?
His Excellency: Yes, I assume you mean the Orthodox Churches. We can learn much from them, especially their deep reverence for the sacraments and their prayerfulness. These are beautiful traditions that God has blessed in the Orthodox Churches. However, the Orthodox Churches are separated from the See of Peter, which is a serious issue because they do not have the fullness of the Church.
While they have beautiful liturgies and spiritual traditions, we have our own rich Roman Catholic tradition, which we must recover and cherish. This is our path, and we do not need to look East to find what is already ours.
Question: Some aspects of synodality seem ambiguous. Can ambiguous teachings ever be truly magisterial? Also, are some Vatican II documents sufficiently clear, or do they need clarification by future Popes?
His Excellency: Magisterial teaching that is ambiguous contradicts the nature of the Church. Our Lord told the Apostles, “Your yes should be yes, and your no, no.” Jesus Christ never taught ambiguously. Unfortunately, some statements in the documents of the Second Vatican Council are ambiguous. These need correction and clarification in the future. But these ambiguous statements were never meant to be infallible teachings. The Council itself purposely avoided definitive, infallible declarations on certain topics, speaking instead in a pastoral manner. So, the ambiguities can and should be clarified and corrected by future Church authorities.
Question: If a bishop asked you for advice on how to improve the vocation situation in his diocese and get more priestly vocations, what would you suggest?
His Excellency: First, begin a campaign of prayer and Eucharistic Adoration, especially perpetual adoration if possible. Prayer is the foundation. Second, introduce the Traditional Latin Mass in the diocese and seminary. This draws many young men to the priesthood.
Final Question: Bishop Schneider, thank you for coming to speak with us so clearly. What is your vision for the next 10 years for the billions of Catholics worldwide? Are you hopeful about the future of the Church?
His Excellency: I am not a prophet, but God is. The Church is always in the hands of God, not in the hands of men. We must believe this firmly. Even if it sometimes seems the ship of the Church is about to sink, the captain is Jesus Christ.