Page:True and False Infallibility of Popes.pdf/83

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The True and the False

The third and last proof of an infallible utterance which Dr. Schulte brings forward is closely connected with the second; it runs: 'And resting on this Brief, the Syllabus, in no. xxiii., condemns the proposition—"Roman Pontiffs and Ecumenical Councils have transgressed the limits of their power, have claimed for themselves the rights of princes, and have erred in their decisions upon faith and morals."' Thus, amongst the doctrines of the Church he conclusively places the following proposition: 'Roman Popes have not overstepped the limits of their power, have not usurped the rights of princes, have not erred in their declarations on faith and morals.' In bringing forward this passage from the Syllabus, Dr. Schulte has not definitely asserted that he looks upon it as a dogmatic definition—a Papal utterance, that is, ex cathedrâ. As he has not done this, he has saved me the trouble of going farther into the matter. It is sufficient for us to direct attention to the fact, that when in the first and second parts of this proposition of the Syllabus, it is said that the Roman Pontiffs have, first, 'not overstepped the limits of their power,' and, secondly, that they 'have not usurped the rights of princes,' these assertions have no reference to a truth revealed by God, but bear upon historical events of a later period, which events have nothing to do with faith and morals, but only with the acts of the Popes. So it is plain there is not here the objectum or subject-matter required for a dogmatic definition.

Our readers can now judge for themselves that these three proofs of infallible teaching which Dr. Schulte has confidently brought forward (and he only