Christus Vincit: Athanasius

This is the third in our series of posts reviewing Christus Vincit (2019) by Bishop Athanasius Schneider. The future bishop began his novitiate with the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross (Austria). He was ordained on the 25th of March 1990 and he notes that his first Holy Mass was in Latin. At the time of his profession, he was given the name Athanasius and he was sent to Brazil. His order gave material help to the poor but also taught them the catechism and the Rosary, which they loved. Sometimes he had to take the Blessed Sacrament to the sick on horseback, because of the difficult terrain. He later completed his studies with Patrology and a dissertation on the Shepherd of Hermas (Ecclesiology and Penance). He met Pope John Paul II twice and was sent to Karaganda.. In 2006, he was consecrated a bishop in Rome, taking as his motto: Kyrie Eleison. At this moment he recalled a prayer his parents wrote as a memorial for his priestly ordination in 1990:

“Lord Jesus, give me love, a strong and ardent love for you and, for your sake, for all men and for all that is good. Give me fortitude, so that I may consider the whole world insignificant, if it will seek to separate me from you. Give me joy in my priesthood, for which you have chosen me. May I faithfully observe your commandments and give me the grace to do great things in my priesthood with deep humility and a pure intention.”

Mother of All Nations, Karaganda. Gugigug. CC BY-SA 3.0 

As auxiliary bishop in Karaganda, he played a key role in building Our Lady of Fatima, the largest Catholic Church in central Asia. Its second title is ''Mother of All Nations.'' He tells a charming story about this Cathedral:

''Two local ladies from Muslim families passed by the cathedral, and the one woman asked her companion, 'What is this building here?' Her friend answered, “This is a Catholic mosque.” Our Lady of Fatima has already attracted many people through this beautiful church, including non-Christians. And that is one of the main goals of a Catholic church building, to bring people to Christ.'' 

He has written about the Holy Eucharist in Dominus Est, a copy of which was sent to all the bishops in North America.

He prepared a decree which applies to the whole of Kazakhstan:

''The decree contained norms stipulating that in the entire territory of Kazakhstan in all Catholic churches, chapels, and religious communities, Holy Communion has to be received by the faithful while kneeling (except of course for health reasons) and on the tongue; that receiving Communion in the hand is prohibited even for Catholics from abroad.''

The last question in this chapter concerned his reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. His response is quitre striking:

''I could not have imagined that the breakdown of this atheistic system would usher in a worse situation in Europe, which is now before us: the dictatorship of gender ideology. This is really a dictatorship. It is actually the same method as in Communist times.''

His sobering reflection concludes this third post. In the next post, we shall conclude the review by giving you a flavour of what is covered in the remaining chapters of this remarkable book.

Christus Vincit is available from Angelico Press or for Kindle from Amazon.