ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Athanasius Schneider has warned that current trends in the Catholic Church, especially the Synod on Synodality, are “dangerous” to the Catholic faith and are “spiritual poisons.”
Speaking to LifeSiteNews recently in Rome, the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, discussed “ecological conversion” and ecumenism, but also the dangers presented by the Synod on Synodality.
Synod on Synodality presents ‘spiritual poisons’
Bishop Schneider warned how the current Synod on Synodality is “a tool used to dilute evermore the clarity of the Catholic faith, as we are now observing, dribbling evermore confusion and doctrinal confusion into the life of the Church.”
“It’s a grave abuse of the institution of the synod, which the Church for 2,000 years understood,” he stated.
READ: Vatican’s new synodal document calls for ‘female diaconate’ and ‘radical inclusion’
The Vatican has highlighted how the multi-year Synod on Synodality is about “listening,” even to the point of “listening” to non-Catholics or lapsed Catholics.
But Bishop Schneider noted that a properly ordered synod has clear prerogatives: “The synod is an instrument of the Magisterium, but its first aim is to clarify doctrine without any ambiguity, without any doubt.”
The second task of a Synod should be to “reject the errors of the time,” yet Schneider warned that the current actions of the Synod are allowing “poison, spiritual poisons” to spread. A true synod should also be concerned with “disciplinary” issues to give a “remedy against abuses,” he noted.
READ: Belgian archbishop warns Catholic doctrine is under ‘threat’ from false teaching, Synodality
Instead, he described the Synod on Synodality as resembling a “parliament in a worldly manner,” something which “is contrary to the entire history of the Church and the entire method of God. It is worldly, it is not Christian even.”
Christ did not say ‘go and listen to all people’
Expanding on this, Bishop Schneider pointed out the peculiarity of focusing the Catholic Church on “listening” instead of teaching.
“The entire humanity has to listen to Christ’s voice, not each other,” he stated. To listen to each other instead of Christ is “against revelation,” he added.
And then Christ did not say to all the Apostles: “Go and listen to all the people,” but “Go and teach and instruct them, in what I have taught you.”
This is the message of the Church — not to present Herself, not to make parliamentary sessions and to listen to people — but to proclaim the truth, with clarity and charity of course.
Such a mission of proclaiming the Catholic faith is a “duty” of the bishops, along with the Pope, noted Schneider. “Also it is an expression of love for those who do not know the clarity of faith.”
Referencing the Synod’s concept of “coming together to listen,” Schneider suggested that such an action is a “dilution of the Catholic faith and an irresponsibility, and a gesture even of non-charity from the side of the Pope and the bishops.”
This is because people “are in need of clarity, in need of structure,” he stated.
READ: Bp. Strickland: Sexual sins are ‘spiritual fentanyl’ eroding our culture
Highlighting the example of widespread practices of homosexuality, adultery, and numerous moral sins, Schneider also suggested that prelates who fail in their duty of warning against such sins are actually sinning themselves:
When the Pope and bishops are not instructing them with the most possible clarity, and in respect and charity, they are sinning. Such synods are against the basic mission, the divine mission, which God gave to the Pope and the bishops, and are also sinning against the commandment of charity for one’s neighbor.
Liberal bishops around the world continue promoting heterodox views on homosexuality, female priests, divorce, contraception, and more — advancing anti-Catholic positions that jeopardize the salvation of souls.
Such bishops often sideline, ignore and even persecute traditional Catholics who simply ask that the Faith be preserved and passed on to their children.
But traditional Catholics cannot be silenced any longer, which is why we are uniting in this international boycott of modernist bishops and dioceses until the deposit of Faith is upheld by the hierarchy again.
SIGN: We will not fund modernist bishops or priests who undermine the Catholic Faith, but rather direct our contributions towards faithful clergy and orders that work for the salvation of souls.
There are countless examples of bishops working against Christ's Church in calling for divine law to be ignored in favor of sexual, doctrinal and liturgical deviancy, even trying to clamp down on Catholics who practise the Faith.
Just last year, Cardinal Cupich banned traditional prayers after Mass, and more recently has curtailed the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese.
Cardinal Cupich has banned the Hail Mary and St Michael Prayer after Mass
— Nick Donnelly (@ProtecttheFaith) August 27, 2021
Who but a devil would ban these prayers after Mass
The attack on the Faith is out in the open, with modernist bishops causing scandal in countless ways:
- Shutting down the Latin Mass in numerous parishes
- Rejecting the Church's teaching on sodomy
- Ignoring Vatican cover-ups of abuse by fellow bishops
- Celebrating LGBT Masses
- And so much more!
We have seen enough. Now is the time to show true Catholic unity against those who undermine the Faith - do not be bullied into submission by these men who would disfigure Christ's Church.
JOIN THE BOYCOTT & SHARE! Tell everyone you know to STOP giving money to bishops who attack the Catholic Faith.
"We therefore commit to a financial boycott of modernist bishops until the hierarchy resolves to uphold the entire deposit of Faith."
If the bishops refuse to uphold and protect the teaching of Christ's Bride, the Catholic Church, then we must refuse to support them until they repent.
Thank you
P.S. — Demanding that liberal bishops be held to account through financial boycott will help save the Church from doctrinal and pastoral ruin. This is the first step in restoring the Faith for future generations. Our time is now, so please join us by signing today!
Photos: Pope Francis. Flickr. Long Thiên; Cardinal Cupich. Flickr. Goat_Girl; Collection Plate: Lisa F. Young/Shutterstock
Make the Eucharist the ‘center of your life’
Despite warning of the dangers represented by the many currents of modern thought in the Catholic Church, Bishop Schneider offered encouragement to Catholics on how to preserve the faith.
“Study the Catholic faith,” he stated. “Study well the old catechisms where is the unchanging faith.”
He mentioned certain post-Conciliar texts, such as Humanae Vitae, Vertitatis Splendor, but highlighted chiefly that Catholics attend to the pre-conciliar teachings and documents due to their clarity.
The auxiliary bishop also urged Catholics to make the Holy Eucharist “the center of your life.” He encouraged receiving Holy Communion with great reverence, kneeling and on the tongue “to avoid any danger of profanation or minimilization of reverence.”
Additionally, Schneider — a vocal proponent of the Church’s traditional liturgy — stated that to seek out the traditional Mass is a “gesture of love” to neighbors and an act of “fidelity to Holy Mother Church.”
“Be adorers of the Eucharist, lovers of the Eucharist and also of the traditional Mass, which is the Mass of the saints,” he said. “Promote this, seek this, make this known to your neighbors and to young people: this is a gesture of love to them and of fidelity to Holy Mother Church.”