help of divine grace, sustained by the authority of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul,…and…with the supreme authority with which I am vested, by means of this Constitution, to be valid forever in the future, I promulgate the present Code as it has been set in order and revised. I command that for the future it is to have the force of law for the whole Latin Church, and I entrust it to the watchful care of all those concerned, in order that it may be observed.’”
Mazzare put the document down. “In every particular, this wording fulfills the expectation of an ex cathedra statement of papal infallibility. It is absolute in its instruction, invokes the key terms of authority, and commands that it be retained as perpetually valid, along with an enjoinder for the Church to protect it against being either changed or disregarded.”
Wadding held up a hand. “I will point out that the American cardinal Avery Dulles authoritatively argued that, although Vatican II produced over eight hundred pages of commentary, there is not one new statement for which infallibility is claimed.”
“He did write that,” agreed Mazzare with a smile, “but he was, after all, only a cardinal like us. He was not the pope who inititiated Vatican II, nor the pope who issued the Apostolic Constitutions-who was the final authority on the matter of his own intents or exercise of his Sacred Magisterium.”
Sharon held on to Ruy’s arm and whispered to him. “It’s getting mighty deep, here.”
“The theological implications of papal infallibility are indeed as profound as the greatest trenches of the ocean, my heart.”
“Sorry, Ruy, but when I said ‘deep,’ I wasn’t talking about water.”
“Dear heart! Can you truly be so scatologically flippant about matters so holy? Perhaps you are a demon after all; an infernal temptress, at least…”
“Ruy, you remove that hand right now. Yes, the one with your knuckle brushing against my-Ruy! There’s a pope in the room!”
Wadding was nodding at Mazzare’s last point. “As you say, neither we, nor your Cardinal Dulles, can know if a pope had unspoken intents. So it seems that there is insufficient reason for me to continue to question the infallibility of Vatican II in your time.”
Ruy’s hand dropped away suddenly. Sharon looked at his face; his eyes, playful a moment ago, were deadly serious now. “Ruy-” she began.
“My dear,” he interrupted in a tense whisper, “Wadding’s concession means he is springing a trap.”
Wadding stood poised, as if he had not completed his sentence. Then: “But I reemphasize: I constrain that concession of infallibility to your time. It is quite a different matter to assert that Vatican II is an infallible teaching or dogma for this time,” He picked up a paper from the small table on which he had his materials arrayed. “Paradoxically, my assertion-that infallibility cannot survive such a temporal and spatial discontinuity as that which brought Grantville to our world-arises from the text of one of the Apostolic Constitutions engendered by Vatican II itself. Specifically, in going through the end notes to the Gaudium et Spes, there is a directive as to how it should be read and understood. Speaking of its first part- De Ecclesia in Mundo Huius Temporis, or, “The Role of the Church in the Modern World”-the note explains that “Some elements have a permanent value; others, only a transitory one. Consequently…interpreters must bear in mind…the changeable circumstances which the subject matter, by its very nature, involves.”
Wadding laid down the paper. “I have no argument with papal infallibility. And I am satisfied with Cardinal Mazzare’s proofs that the Apostolic Constitutions arising from Vatican II do, in fact, possess that infallibility. However, we must also pay heed to this passage, which is equally infallible when it explains that ‘some elements have a permanent value; others, only a transitory one.’”
Wadding leaned forward over his table. “This, I assert, is the voice of the Holy Spirit, speaking across the vast gulfs of space and time, to caution us about what we might call the ‘epochal provisionality’ of canonical church doctrine. In short, it compels us to ask: does Vatican II reflect God’s intents across all eternity? Or was it specifically, and only, infallibly valid in relation to the up-time world, of that particular epoch, and at that particular moment?”
Vitelleschi made a cutting gesture in the air with his hand. “That intrudes upon the topic of our next session, Cardinal Wadding: whether the infallible doctrines and decrees of the up-time Church must be recognized as such in this one, as well. And so we are adjourned-and may rightly give thanks for the shortness of today’s proceedings, for I note there is still light in the garden.” Without further comment, Vitelleschi headed for the stairs that would lead him outside.
Sharon stepped over to Larry to offer her congratulations, but was stopped by the grim look on his face. “Why so glum, Larry? You won the day.”
Mazzare glanced over at Wadding, who seemed unusually serene in defeat as he gathered his papers. “It’s not today that concerns me, Sharon. Wadding pulled an exegetical judo move on me just now, one from which I may not be able to recover in the next session.”
“You mean that he has used the rationale of your own defense of the infallibility of Vatican II to establish a reasonable doubt as to its applicability in this world?”
“Exactly.”
Sharon frowned. “And do you think he can prove that Vatican II is inapplicable here?”
Larry shrugged. “He doesn’t have to, Sharon. The burden of proof is upon me. I have to establish that its infallibility extends from our up-time land of never-never-when, all the way back down into this very real down-time world.”
One of Ruy’s eyebrows raised slightly. “And can you accomplish that, Cardinal Mazzare?”
Larry sighed. “Damned if I know.”
“Do you really think they came this way, Valentino?”
Given the number of times he had now heard the question, Valentino would probably have slashed the inquirer across the face with his dagger-except that this time, the inquiry came from Cesare Linguanti. Quiet Linguanti, who was the only other senior-and therefore, trustworthy-man that Rombaldo had assigned to this search group, and who had not once showed any doubt in Valentino’s leadership. Of course, he had yet to speak fifty words since leaving Venice. “Where else do you think we should search?” Valentino asked him.
Linguanti shrugged. He looked at the land humping up between the mountains that were rising ever higher around them as they entered the Asiago region from the south. “It’s a lot of empty country and tall mountains, here at the gateway to the Dolomites.”
“Yes,” answered Valentino, surprised at Linguanti’s relative loquacity, “but this is where the trail leads.”
“Some trail,” intruded a broad, brash Milanese accent behind him. “These days, there could be any number of groups on horseback with some English speakers. Since those up-time demons arrived, everyone and his father’s whore is speaking English, it seems.”
Valentino turned, schooling himself to patience as he did. The new voice in the discussion belonged to Odoardo de Mosca, who was so large that his horse looked like a pony, sagging under him. Odoardo was arguably one of the ten most dangerous-and contrary-men Valentino had ever met. It was an unpromising mix, and Valentino half-suspected that, after this job was done, he would have to preemptively, albeit surreptitiously, “retire” Odoardo from Rombaldo’s payroll; the burly Milanese man-ogre was as indiscreet with secrets as he was with cheap, barnyard grappa. “Yes, Odoardo, there are a lot of English-speakers abroad these days, but that’s not the main reason we’re on this group’s trail.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s the big difference?”
“This group used an unusual method of victualing.”
Odoardo spat; thick and phlegmy, the gobbet didn’t carry as far as he intended. It hit his own horse square in the eye. The beast bucked; Odoardo smiled and wrestled it back under control, sawing at the reins cruelly. “That’s bullshit, Valentino. From what we’ve been able to learn at each town this group visited, they bought the right amounts of food and drink for a big group. So what’s so unusual?”
Valentino smiled and resolved to kill Odoardo in his sleep just as soon as the pope was dead. “Odoardo, you should pay a little more attention to the details. Yes, the men seen in the towns always bought the right amount of supplies for the group they claimed to be traveling with, but then why did that whole group never pass directly through any of the towns where they got their provisions?”
Odoardo frowned and shrugged a single shoulder diffidently. “Maybe they’re shy.”
“No one’s so shy that they don’t want to bring their horses or wagons to load up the provisions directly from
