22/04/16
Rorate: Interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider
About the crisis of the Church
Mr. Fülep: Today, the Catholic faithful must experience the weakness and the dysfunctions of the Magisterium: without exaggeration I dare say that in the official Catholic media you can hear, read or see gross errors, ambiguities, what’s more, heresies from high-ranking priests, sad to say, bishops and higher church dignitaries, too, almost every day.
A significant portion of official utterances – also the highest – is confusing, contradictory, deceiving many faithful. What should the Catholic faithful do in these difficult times? How can we remain true to the faith in this situation? What is our duty?
His Excellency Bishop Schneider: In the history of the Church there have always been times of a profound crisis of the faith and morals. The deepest and most dangerous crisis was undoubtedly the Arian crisis in the 4th century. It was a mortal attack against the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. In those times it was practically the simple faithful that saved the Catholic faith.
In times of profound crisis the Divine Providence likes to use the simple and humble ones to demonstrate the indestructibility of His Church. When the simple faithful observe that representatives of the clergy, and even of the high clergy, neglect the Catholic faith and proclaim errors, they should pray for their conversion, they should repair the faults of the clergy through a courageous witness of the faith.
Sometimes, the faithful should also advise and correct the clergy, yet always with respect, that is, following the principle of the “sentire cum ecclesia”, as for example Saint Catharine of Siena and Saint Brigid of Sweden did it. In the Church we all constitute one body, the Mystical Body of Christ. When the head (the clergy) is weak, the rest of the members should try to strengthen the whole body. Ultimately, the Church is guided by the invisible Head, who is Christ and is animated by its invisible soul, who is the Holy Spirit. Therefore the Church is indestructible.
Confusing and ambiguous video message
Mr. Fülep: Pope Francis revealed his prayer intention of interreligious dialogue for January in a video message.The Holy Father states that he prays "that sincere dialogue between men and women of different religions may yield fruits of peace and justice.” In the video we see the Argentine Pope with believers of other religions, including Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, who each profess their faith and together declare that they believe in love. The Pope calls for interreligious dialogue, noting, “Most of the planet’s inhabitants declare themselves believers,” and therefore, “This should lead to dialogue among religions”. “Only through dialogue”, he underscores, “will we be able to eliminate intolerance and discrimination”.
Noting that interreligious dialogue is “a necessary condition” for world peace,” the Pope says, “We must not cease praying for it or collaborating with those who think differently.” He also expresses his hope that his prayer request spreads to all people. “In this wide range of religions”, Pope Francis concludes, “there is only one certainty we have for all: we are all children of God”, and says he has confidence in our prayers. In the last picture we can see the Little Jesus among Buddha, the Menorah and a Muslim prayer chain. If we believe that Jesus Christ is the only Son of the God, and the Catholic Church, the acceptance of the faith and baptism are necessary to salvation[8], and we know that the divine filiation is the fruit of justification, seeing this video we get embarrassed…
His Excellency Bishop Schneider: Of course. Unfortunately, this statement of the pope is highly confusing and ambiguous. There is confusion because he is putting on the same plateau the natural level according to which all people are creatures of God and the supernatural level according to which only those who believe in Christ and receive baptism are children of God. Only those are children of God who believe in Christ, who are not born of the flesh or the blood, which is the natural level, but who are born from God through faith in Christ and baptism.
This is declared by God Himself in the Gospel of John.
The above mentioned statement of the pope contradicts in some way the word of God itself. And, as Saint Paul wrote, it is only in Christ and through the Holy Spirit who is poured out in our heart that we can say “Abba, Father”. Based on the word of God, it is absolutely clear. Of course, Christ has shed His blood to redeem everybody, every human being. This is objective redemption. And therefore every human being can become a child of God when he subjectively accepts Christ through faith and baptism. So we must make these differences absolutely clear.