Page:William John Sparrow-Simpson - Roman Catholic Opposition to Papal Infallibility (1909).djvu/380

 360 "And again his Infallibility is not called into exercise unless he speaks to the whole world; for if his precepts, in order to be dogmatic, must enjoin what is necessary to salvation, they must be necessary for all men. Accordingly … orders to particular countries or classes of men have no claim to be the utterances of his Infallibility."

This treatment of the Vatican Decree is an exercise of what Newman calls "the principle of minimising," which he considers "so necessary for a wise and cautious theology."

A still further condition is introduced by Newman to qualify the character of papal decisions. There is the doctrine of intention. The Pope, urges Newman,

Newman himself applied this principle of intention to the case of Honorius.

That, of course, must apply to every individual for whom the infallible prerogative is claimed. The