Here is an interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider on the reasons for the crisis in the Church today. The interviewer is Steve Bannon, and it was presented as part of his War Room Pandemic podcast, which is politically conservative, but not by any means all Catholic. He asks a number of open questions and for the most part, gives Bishop Schneider center stage for 20 minutes.
The interview is posted in video on Rumble, and so I can’t embed it on this platform. The link is here.
His Excellency speaks of the changes in the Mass and the crisis in the Church today. Interestingly, he calls the 1965 Mass the “Mass of Vatican II”, which, he says, was substantially the same as the centuries-old traditional Mass, with some use of the vernacular, and is an organic development.
He then goes on to describe the Novus Ordo as a “revolutionary order of Mass that goes against the nature of the Church.” He speaks of Pope Francis’ recent motu proprio restricting the celebration of the TLM as being reflective of a man-centered and materialistic ideology, rather than a God-centered religion that offers us eternal life. It is more in line with the protestant understanding of liturgy, that is, primarily as a meal, and more informal. “Christ did not save us through the Last Supper,” he says, “but through the sacrifice on the Cross and his Resurrection.” He also says that the motu proprio has had the effect of increasing curiosity about the TLM amongst young people. This is evidence, says Bishop Schneider, that not even a Pope can overcome the Holy Spirit.
The show promoted the Bishop’s forthcoming book on what he calls the “unspeakable richness” of the the Holy Mass, called The Catholic Mass: Steps to Restore the Centrality of God in the Liturgy. The publisher is Sophia Institute Press, but you will have to be patient, since it is not due for release until January 2022.
