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Athanasius Schneider
KazakhstanPaix LiturgiqueNo analyses yet
About Athanasius Schneider
Athanasius Schneider has been auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan, since 2011, and is secretary general of the Kazakh bishops' conference (Wikipedia). Born in 1961 in the Kirghiz SSR, he joined the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra in 1982, was ordained a priest in 1990, obtained a doctorate at the Patristic Institute Augustinianum in Rome in 1997, and was consecrated a bishop at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica on 2 June 2006 (Wikipedia; Gloria Dei). His books include Dominus Est, on receiving Communion kneeling and on the tongue; Christus Vincit (2019), with journalist Diane Montagna; and Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith, a question-and-answer presentation of doctrine (Angelico Press; Sophia Institute Press).
Liturgy. In a 2021 interview with Montagna for The Remnant, his first after Traditionis custodes, he said the document "demeans" a liturgy more than a thousand years old and creates a "two-class society" in the Church (The Remnant). He met Leo XIV privately on 18 December 2025 and later said he had proposed an apostolic constitution giving the traditional Mass a stable legal framework independent of the earlier motu proprios (FSSPX.News; Gloria Dei). InfoVaticana reported that he would celebrate the 2026 Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage Mass at St. Mary Major on 24 October after permission for St. Peter's was not granted (InfoVaticana).
The SSPX. In February 2026 he appealed publicly to Leo XIV to build a bridge to the Society of St. Pius X and argued that the Pope could permit its consecrations (Diane Montagna; Catholic Culture); the Society's dossier carried his argument that they would "in no way be schismatic" (FSSPX.News). After the July decree he described the Society's choice as tragic (Diane Montagna) and, per the Catholic Herald, said the dispute centres on truth rather than liturgy (Catholic Herald). In 2020 he proposed correcting specific passages of Vatican II documents, while Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò went further (NCR); in 2024 he argued that excommunicating Viganò would be imprudent (Gloria Dei). He has since called for "fatherly charity" towards the Society in an interview with Ad Vaticanum, and was billed as keynote speaker at the 2–4 October 2026 Catholic Identity Conference near Pittsburgh (InfoVaticana). See SSPX consecrations 2026.
On the timeline
Full timelineDated events, newest first.
Catholic Identity Conference meets near Pittsburgh with Bishop Schneider as keynote speaker
The annual Catholic Identity Conference, organised by The Remnant, met near Pittsburgh from 2 to 4 October 2026. InfoVaticana described a programme bringing together Vaticanists, liturgists and several bishops, with a keynote by Bishop…
Bishop Athanasius Schneider issues first statement since the SSPX excommunications
In a statement first published by journalist Diane Montagna, Bishop Athanasius Schneider described the SSPX as having faced a "tragic" choice between the integrity of the faith and formal recognition by the Holy See, while not offering a…
Five bishops including Schneider and Strickland reject abortion-linked COVID vaccines
Cardinal Janis Pujats, Archbishops Tomash Peta and Jan Pawel Lenga, and Bishops Joseph Strickland and Athanasius Schneider argued that using vaccines developed with fetal cell lines "cannot be acceptable for Catholics".
SourcesBishops Schneider, Strickland on the Morality of Vaccines (The Remnant)Covid Vaccines: 'The Ends Cannot Justify the Means' (Crisis Magazine)
Viganò essay treats the Second Vatican Council as the source of later errors
Responding to a 1 June essay by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Archbishop Viganò argued that the Council itself lay at the root of later deviations. After Vatican commentator Sandro Magister wrote that such a wholesale rejection stood at…
Sources for this profile
- Athanasius Schneider — Wikipedia
- How Bishop Athanasius Schneider Became a Leading Voice for Catholic Truth — Gloria Dei
- Bishop Athanasius Schneider — Angelico Press
- Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith — Sophia Institute Press
- TRADITION BETRAYED: Diane Montagna Interviews Bishop Schneider on “Traditionis Custodes” — The Remnant
- Bishop Schneider Reveals Details of His Audience with Leo XIV — FSSPX.News
- Bishop Schneider Appeals to Pope Leo XIV for Apostolic Constitution on the Traditional Mass — Gloria Dei
- Rome bans the traditional Mass at St. Peter's and forces its relocation to Santa Maria Maggiore — InfoVaticana, Sep 10, 2026
- EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Schneider Appeals to Pope Leo XIV to Build a Bridge between Rome and the SSPX — Diane Montagna (Substack)
- Bishop Schneider: Pope could permit SSPX episcopal consecrations to proceed — Catholic Culture
- Episcopal Consecrations: Updated Dossier — FSSPX.News
- Bishop Schneider: Serious Vatican Engagement with SSPX Would Mark "Beginning of the End" of the Modernist Project — Diane Montagna (Substack), Aug 17, 2026
- Bishop Schneider: SSPX dispute centres on truth, not liturgy — The Catholic Herald
- Who still stands with Viganò? — National Catholic Reporter
- Bishop Schneider Hopes Pope Francis will Refrain from Excommunicating Archbishop Viganò, Deeming it Imprudent — Gloria Dei
- EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Schneider calls for ‘fatherly charity’ towards SSPX and responds to Sacrosanctum Concilium General Audience — Ad Vaticanum
- A meeting in Pittsburgh brings together Vaticanists, liturgists and several bishops to reflect on the situation of the Church — InfoVaticana, Oct 4, 2026
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