Bishop Schneider’s CREDO #209

Posted on November 4, 2023 by Father Joe

Again, note that Bishop Athanasius Schneider presumes to correct recent popes, Vatican II and the universal catechism.

His arguments are not new, as they have often been mouthed, not simply by the SSPX but by sedevacantists who argue the chair of Peter as vacant since Pope John XXIII. Bishop Schneider will not come out and deny papal authority; however, he does make various insinuations, especially later in the text when he speaks about the lack of certainty regarding canonizations. Is he sowing doubt about the newest saints, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II?

He renders a rather peculiar interpretation of Genesis in light of John 8:56 as a revelation of the Trinity given to Abraham long before the New Testament. Biblical exegetes suggest it is merely a reference to the birth of Isaac (the child of promise) and the start of salvation history— it all begins with the pledge about Abraham’s seed coming to pass.

Here is the passage in the universal catechism that he calls misleading, i.e. wrong:

CCC 847 – “This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church: ‘Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation.”

Pope John Paul II quoted the Council, saying:

“The Church also views with esteem the Muslims, who worship the one and only God, living and subsistent, merciful and omnipotent, the Creator of heaven and earth” (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions 2).