Just as Pope Francis was warning Kazakhstan’s bishops about fuelling nostalgia for the past during his visit to the country, one traditionalist cleric suggested Francis’ participation in an interfaith conference could imply papal endorsement of a “supermarket of religions”. 

As first reported by the Associated Press, Bishop Athenasius Schneider – auxiliary bishop of Astana – is one of the Pope’s most vocal critics, especially on “doctrinal ambiguities and overly progressive bent on issues such as homosexuality and interfaith outreach.” Schneider did however help push the Pope’s wheelchair and served as a translator during the trip.

Nevertheless, Schneider is a noted critic of the Pontiff. In 2019, he joined US Cardinal Raymond Burke –  a dark horse papabile – to criticise a document the Pope signed with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar university in Egypt which said all religions are “willed by God”, which appeared to some to contradict the principle that Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation. 

The papal visit was already somewhat overshadowed both by the lack of a potential meeting between Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, even though the Pope had some strong words about the war in Ukraine, as well as the prospect of a possible meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The Pope has come under considerable criticism already for his accommodation towards the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over a 2018 deal, once renewed in 2020, and set to be renewed again.

Just days ago, the Pope said he is willing to go to China at any time. As first reported by Reuters, when asked if he might meet Xi in Kazakhstan, the Pope said he didn’t “have any news about that”. Asked if he was ready to go to China, Francis responded: “I am always ready to go”. 

To be fair, this could mean a visit to aid China’s beleaguered Christian minority, of whom anywhere between 20 and 50 million have experienced persecution in recent years, with a 2020 report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China finding that Chinese Catholics suffered “increasing persecution” after the 2018 deal was signed. 

The deal has failed to stop catechism classes from being banned or clerics from being imprisoned, if not tortured. Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, for instance, who has been in jail on and off since 2007. Meanwhile, Cardinal Joseph Zen – a noted CCP critic – is to be put on trial imminently in Hong Kong.

Pope Francis began his third and final day in Kazakhstan by meeting with bishops, priests and nuns in the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Nur-Sultan. He is due to give a concluding address to the interfaith gathering.

For his part, Schneider defended his criticism as respectful, “fraternal” advice, borne out of love and providing “true help for the church.” The bishop added: “This is normal because we are not employees of the Pope. We are brothers. We have to say with respect when we recognise something is a danger for the entire Church. This is a help.” 

Schneider however urged the Vatican to reconsider participation in future international events like the one in Kazakhstan and focus on building relationships at a local level. 

The criticism is unlikely to go unnoticed and again highlights growing splits between conservatives and progressives within the Catholic Church, evidenced most recently by the Synodal Path in Germany with the threat of schism hanging in the air, as well as division over the Traditional Latin Mass. Even in the Central Asian visit, divisions could not be obscured.

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