Always remember the mystery of election.

Many are called, but few are chosen.

I watched my grandmother apostasise and die outside the Church.

Whilst we never cease with prayers and sacrifices for another's conversion, we have to accept that most persons are not listed in the Book of Life.

This topic is really very nuanced and difficult to navigate. The theology, culture, and mentalities of Byzantine Catholics -- Ruthenians especially come to mind -- is nearly identical to their schismatic Orthodox counterparts, and will sometimes identify as Orthodox in communion with the Papacy. The treaties of Brest and Uzghorod by which several Orthodox Churches entered into communion with the Papacy guaranteed their Orthodox identity, whilst the eastern Churches would acknowledge the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and refrain from accusing the Latin Church of heresy for sundry reasons (filioque, use of unleavened bread, purgatory and indulgences, clean-shaven clergy, etc.). Also, whilst the Byzantine Catholics do not practice the divorce policies of the schismatics and accept (or at least tolerate) the recent Marian dogmas, Latins need to be careful in what they condemn or attack in the Orthodox because it can often be an equal attack on the Byzantine Catholics.

And your opinion carries more weight than a priest's?

How are you reading this into what he said?  What he was saying is what I've been saying for a long time, where the "seek the opinion of a priest" advice these days can be pretty lame, since there might be a different opinion for every priest that you ask, and no priest has the requisite authority.  When the Church was in a normal state, you'd go to your diocesan chancery and get a ruling, and because they had the authority, even if they were wrong, you could safely in conscience follow that ruling.  Not so with priests these days, who simply don't have the authority and might have a variety of opinions.  And, in some (even many) cases, his opinion would carry more weight than that of a priest, since I know quite a few priests who, let's just say, barely passed seminary and have slightly better than a Baltimore Catechism knowledge of the faith.  Apart from that, an old priest once visited STAS and he complained about all the priests who were just simple priests, having graduated the basic 6-year program, acting as if they were canon lawyers or theologians, whereas in normal times this sufficed only to be an associate pastor somewhere, and to be considered a legitimate authority in those other areas, one would to acquire advanced pontifical degrees.  Heck, even in an organization like the SSPX, you couldn't just "go to a priest".  Even they have some priests who are a bit more highly trained in the subject who might opine on the matter, and it would not be left up to the priest at your local chapel.