VATICAN CITY — Bishop Athanasius Schneider said Pope Francis “showed great cordiality” toward him during a private audience on Monday and that they “spoke about some important themes on the life of the Church.” 

In a short Jan. 21 statement sent to the Register, the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, called on the faithful to “pray for Pope Francis that he might confirm the Church in the Faith.”

Bishop Schneider, who has often been critical of Pope Francis during his pontificate, disclosed that he had asked for the meeting. 

One of Bishop Schneider’s most recent criticisms related to Pope Francis’ comments in Singapore in September 2024 when he said “every religion is a way to arrive at God.” 

Bishop Schneider argued that the Pope’s claim contradicted divine Revelation and undermined the uniqueness of Christ as the sole Savior. 

In a profession of faith written in response to the Pope’s words and other perceived ambiguities in Francis’ teaching, Bishop Schneider stated that Christians “are not simply ‘traveling companions’ along with adherents of false religions — which God forbids.” The profession also fervently implored “the help of Divine grace for all those churchmen today who, by their words and deeds, contradict the Divinely revealed truth about Jesus Christ and His Church as the only path by which men can reach God and eternal salvation.” 

The Kazakhstan bishop, who grew up under Soviet Union communism, has also been unafraid to make other forthright criticisms. These have included his opposition to the Pope’s changes to allow divorced-and-civilly-remarried Catholics to receive Communion in some cases; the 2023 Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans allowing non-liturgical blessings of same-sex couples; and criticisms of Francis’ synodal reforms, including issuing a joint letter with Cardinal Raymond Burke just before the Amazon synod critical of an “almost general doctrinal confusion” in the Church today.

He strongly condemned Pope Francis’ support for civil same-sex unions in 2020 and has consistently opposed Pope Francis’ limitations on the traditional Latin Mass, viewing them as an attack on Catholic tradition and a source of division within the Church. 

Last year, he opposed the excommunication of Archbishop Carlo Viganò, saying that while Viganò’s criticisms were “irreverent and disrespectful,” he believed excommunicating him would “increase divisions even more.” 

Although critical, Bishop Schneider has always tried to be respectful, saying his criticisms are “an expression of true and sincere love for the Pontiff” and part of a bishop’s duty to speak up when they believe the Pope is in error.

And although his censures have been frequent, Bishop Schneider opposes the idea that Pope Francis is not validly elected, or that he has removed himself from office through pronouncing heresy. The faithful, he said in September 2023, must “keep a cool head and at the same time a true supernatural view and trust in Divine intervention and in the indestructibility of the Church.” 

Monday’s audience was not the first time Bishop Schneider and the Pope had met: They had an encounter during an ad limina visit of Kazakhstan’s bishops to the Vatican in 2019, and they met when Francis visited Kazakhstan in 2022.