Page:Petri Privilegium - Manning.djvu/296

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episcopal body, by the possibility in which he is of acting always in concert with it, possesses in virtue of the Divine order the assured means to give infallibility to his dogmatic judgments.'

From this I gather:—

1. That the Pontiff possesses a means of giving infallibility to his judgments.

2. That this means is the right of consulting the episcopal body.

From this it would seem to follow—

1. That, apart from the episcopal body, the Pontiff is not infallible.

2. That consultation with the episcopal body is a necessary condition of giving infallibility to his judgments.

3. That the Pontiff gives infallibility to his judgments by receiving it from the episcopal body, or by his union with it.

If I understand this statement, it denies the infallibility of the Pontiff altogether; for it affirms it only when the Pontiff has given to his judgment what he has received from the episcopal body, or what he cannot have without it.

In this process the words of our Lord seem to be inverted. It is his brethren who confirm him, not he who confirms his brethren.

The endowment of infallibility residing in the body flows to the Head when in consultation with the Episcopate. It is influxus corporis in Caput, not Capitis in corpus.

The doctrine I have maintained in these pages is as follows:—