Bishop Athanasius Schneider: ‘We are in the fourth great crisis of the Church’

[larsont7]

Excellent article, and God bless Bishop Schneider! It was a pleasure seeing him in Omaha about a week ago as he ordained 7 men into the holy priesthood. His book is also fantastic and I encourage everyone to read it (book can be found on Amazon).

 

[Pancras]

What Catholic here can deny this? Tremendous confusion to be sure. The majority of Catholics see no conflict whatsoever with their support for contraception, homosexuality, the ordination of women, divorce, gay marriage, sex outside marriage, etc. etc. etc., and their Catholic Faith. It’s pretty much become the new “norm.” I’d even go so far as to say that you’ll probably have a much easier time finding a dissenting Catholic than a faithful Catholic. The overwhelming majority dissent on one issue or another, and don’t even bat an eye at it.

Nailed it!!! Here he is with Fr. Mitch talking about respect for the Eucharist and Communion in the hand.
youtube.com/watch?v=Jii6NCfTW68

Nailed it again!!! In some Catholic Churches you actually have to hunt for the tabernacle. What a terrible shame.This Bishop is so refreshing to see! Someone who respects Sacred Tradition and is not in the least bit ashamed to express it. God Bless You Bishop Athanasius Schneider! We need many more like you.

Peace, Mark

I wonder what would happen if Bishop Athanasius would visit St. Charles Borromeo parish in North Hollywood, CA, where they just spent a few million $ on a remodel that included tearing out the famous beautiful communion rail (which would cost about $50,000 to restore again) and moved the tabernacle to a place of exile off to the side in its own silly room. They typically distribute communion-in-the-hand to people standing up to receive it. This is the local parish of Bob and Dolores Hope.

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[NoDetHabe]

Finally, a bishop realises the crisis the church are facing.I hope other bishops will listen to him.

 

[anixx]

lolwut tht’ll nvr b.

That’s what the Romans said, just before barbarians finally crushed the empire. An empire spanning almost all the known world, with a thousand years of history, can never cease to exist. they said. Yet now they are in the history books. Everything passes, but the Church remains till the end of time itself.
The curios thing is, that even the Romans ignored the existence of a crisis, until it was too late. Few of them raised their voice, one of them was st Augustine.

 

[mountee]

Thanks you so much for posting this, I have never heard of this bishop and his words are right on the money.

 

[pnewton]

I set in the front row at Mass every Sunday and have for 25 years as I have a Holy Hour then. and I watch as everyone else receives Communion. I have NEVER seen a Host fall from the mouth, not ever. But I have seen It fall from the hand many times, and I have seen many more almost fall from the hand.

Go figure. I have never seen the host fall from the hand. Isn’t anecdotal evidence fun. In any case, this issue is for the Church to work out, not me. I hope I can continue to receive in the hand, as it is more reverential to me, but if not I will lose no sleep over it.

I do not understand making this as a major crisis though. Surely it is not as great an issue as the rise of atheism or the totality of the sexual revolution where most all young people live together before marriage, chastity has become a rarity and all forms of alternate sexuality are now viewed as acceptable alternatives to moral sexuality. I would think this would overshadow the “liberal” problem, especially as that seems to be waning. But then, anytime I see the word “liberal” used, I detect a hint of politics. If we adhere to tradition, then liberal theologians are a vital part of doctrinal development, but in that context, the word has a different meaning.

As to Bishop Athanasius Schneider, it sounds like Kazakhstan is lucky to have him.

 

[Tigg]

I do think that there is something to be said for his comments about the liturgy becoming more anthropocentric and less Christocentric. I have noticed this for some time now.

The Sacraments, or at least our perception of them, have become more anthropocentric. With many of them, we have turned them into a celebration of us, rather than a worship of God. People make many comments about how they like Mass to be celebrated, which hymns we prefer, how much we get out of it, and so forth. We judge confessors by how they make us feel, not the fact that our sins are forgiven. We even turn First Penance into a family event with photos! I need not even mention marriage.

^ This !!

What I’ve noticed is a disturbing trend in some parishes (not our own) that before Mass many are more eager to see their friends in the pew than acknowledge Christ. Back slaps, hugs, handshakes and greetings are done in the aisle before even acknowledging the presence of Christ by genuflecting. Then immediately as the priest exits after the concluding hymn, applause is given (for whom or for what has not exactly been determined) and the noise level rises in the nave as they visit with one another and if one wishes to silently say a prayer of thanksgiving after Mass, lots of luck with that one. I abhor the social hall atmosphere in our sacred worship space.

 

[ringil]

Since the is aBishop we are talking about, and he has the Grace of teaching, I would think we can learn something from him.

I would say this about a Mahoney as well.

I believe that this Bishop’s rhetoric is too severe however.
I believe we should listen to our Bishops and absolutely to the Pope. I am very uncomfortable with the blossoming of lay opinions (meddling) in Church matters- both of the liturgically liberal and of the traditionalist sides.

I am a fan of the “pray, pay, and obey”. mantra.

 

[ringil]

Go figure. I have never seen the host fall from the hand. Isn’t anecdotal evidence fun. In any case, this issue is for the Church to work out, not me. I hope I can continue to receive in the hand, as it is more reverential to me, but if not I will lose no sleep over it.

That’s my view. It’s not my place- I will just do what I am told to do.

 

[irishpatrick]

It is hard to know if this is the fourth crisis of the Church; however, we sure are living during a crisis. With seventy-percent of Catholics not believing in the Real Presence, and with a scant twenty-six percent of Catholics attending Mass regularly (much worse than that in other countries), and with large percentages of Catholics living together, fornicating, aborting, contracepting, divorcing, etc…it sure seems obvious that these are troubled times for the Church and faith. There has been a massive pulling away from the faith, with likely less than 20-percent of believers actually holding onto all teachings of the faith. I would say that makes this, at the very least, a time of crisis for the Church.

 

[anixx]

You know that the retired pope Benedict, wrote a book in the 70’s called Faith and the Future, in which he states that: The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity… And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun.
This he wrote in the 70’s. That crisis that was scarcely beginning then, is in full throttle now. And I’m not sure we reached the pinnacle yet.

 

[NextElement]

You guys are acting like the Church is going to be destroyed or something! We might have an identity crisis, buts lets not forget that God himself proclaimed that the gates of Hell wouldn’t prevail over his Church. How about having faith in that?

 

[anixx]

You guys are acting like the Church is going to be destroyed or something! We might have an identity crisis, buts lets not forget that God himself proclaimed that the gates of Hell wouldn’t prevail over his Church. How about having faith in that?

It’ll never be destroyed. God always kept his promises and always surprised us in the matter in which he fulfilled them. It’ll never be destroyed, yet this doesn’t mean that the Church can’t become smaller, much smaller.
There are a lot of withered branches on the vineyard already. As Pope Benedict, he did start acting in this direction, to tend to the vineyard, but was finally overwhelmed. What a good and humble man, to admit to this and step back. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of him.

 

[ringil]

It’ll never be destroyed. God always kept his promises and always surprised us in the matter in which he fulfilled them. It’ll never be destroyed, yet this doesn’t mean that the Church can’t become smaller, much smaller.
There are a lot of withered branches on the vineyard already. As Pope Benedict he did start acting in this direction, to tend to the vineyard, but was finally overwhelmed. What a good and humble man, to admit to this and step back. I don’t think we heard the last of him.

Benedict is living a life of prayer and writing. As a son of the Church he completely sumits himself to the Holy Father.

I sense that you seek to say something which Francis isn’t doing- something which Benedict was doing.

 

[anixx]

Benedict is living a life of prayer and writing. As a son of the Church he completely sumits himself to the Holy Father.

I sense that you seek to say something which Francis isn’t doing- something which Benedict was doing.

Not at all. All Catholics submit to the Holy Father.
Btw, Benedict is writing, as you said. That’s what I meant when I said: we haven’t heard (or read) the last of him.

EDIT: And every pope put emphasis on different aspects of the Church life from one another. You cannot say the Francis, the Pope, is doing things exactly as Benedict did them. If I were to cite Pope Gregory the Xth, would it mean I exclude all other Popes?

 

[Denise1957]

I purchased a ticket to this conference in England, but then couldn’t attend because it would have been too expensive to go the the UK from the US. There were other good speakers as well, such as Fr. Michael Mary of the Transalpine Redemptorists. Bishop Schneider was invited to speak by the Latin Mass Society in England. Bishop Schneider was also in Nebraska last week to ordain priests for the FSSP.

I highly recommend Bp. Schneider’s book called, “Dominus Est - it is the Lord!” available from Amazon. It’s small and inexpensive, and highlights what the Catholics in the Soviet era went through to receive communion.

I think that Catholics have always primarily been People of the Eucharist. Bishop Schneider is committed to restore devotion and reverence to Holy Eucharist. I also really like that he said positive things about Pope Francis in the article.

 

[Tigg]

This orthodox bishop is young - only 53. One can’t help but notice the contrasts in spiritual proclivities not only between the camps of the traditional and non, but also in the ages of the younger and older clerics. It certainly lends credence when some say the majority of priests are now coming from more orthodox seminaries and that those areas are less likely to be experiencing the same shortage of priests that others suffer from.

 

[Tigg]

Bishop Schneider was invited to speak by the Latin Mass Society in England. Bishop Schneider was also in Nebraska last week to ordain priests for the FSSP.

I think that Catholics have always primarily been People of the Eucharist. Bishop Schneider is committed to restore devotion and reverence to Holy Eucharist. I also really like that he said positive things about Pope Francis in the article.

How awesome is this! And who can find fault with it?

 

[pnewton]

This orthodox bishop is young - only 53. One can’t help but notice the contrasts in spiritual proclivities not only between the camps of the traditional and non, but also in the ages of the younger and older clerics. It certainly lends credence when some say the majority of priests are now coming from more orthodox seminaries and that those areas are less likely to be experiencing the same shortage of priests that others suffer from.

I believe your are right, but I think it also lends less credence to the idea we are in a growing crisis. We cannot say both that priests are becoming more orthodox and less orthodox at the same time. I am more of the same mind you are, that it is the older generation that is passing that was the fuel to the Spirit of Vatican II issues the Bishop described. Perhaps in his experience, as a younger bishop, he is more greatly beset by this older generation.

 

[seaton2005]

Specifically, what is meant by “new paganism?” Who are the “new” pagans?

I wonder if the new pagans could be those leaders that fail to clean their own house of horrendous crimes committed against children by their own. Or, perhaps those that cover it up by transferring the offenders around. I my opinion the Church has a number of other crises that they will continue to deal with for many years to come, and it’s not liberalism or a “new paganism.”