[De veritate dicenda aut tacenda]

they were forced to adore idols or to deny the true God. For in this article, it was now necessary to publicly profess the true faith, which profession they could not pass over in silence without mortal sin, as is clear in Daniel and the three children. From that, a useful doctrine is inferred: that it is not of the necessity of salvation for doctors or preachers to insert themselves into the land of infidels for the sake of the preaching of the faith, unless they were sent by the Roman Pontiff, who is the universal pastor of the sheep, faithful and infidels, and is a debtor to the wise and the unwise, especially since the calling of the Gentiles is not believed to be fulfilled, because their multitude has not yet entered. Thus, neither do bishops have a necessity by their own authority to go out to the lands of the Gentiles, as their oath requires. Those who take up the title are bound to give effort to convert such, unless another just cause were to impede them; but others not at all, because it is written: "How shall they preach unless they are sent?" If, however, Gentiles were to rush into the Church attempting to subvert the faith and turn away the faithful, as it is believed at the time of the Antichrist, then it would be to be acted otherwise. Thus, neither is it necessary, if heretics were to arise among the faithful, that anyone, not inspired by God, should spontaneously insert himself to them to preach, lest he seem to tempt God, and no utility would follow from it, but perhaps rather a disturbance of the faithful and inordinate persecution would arise from it. The master of all preachers, Paul, taught this by his own example, who, when a disturbance arose in Asia concerning the way of the Lord and a great tumult was stirred up in the people concerning Diana of the Ephesians, the same Paul gave way to the tumult and did not wish to give himself to the theater to refute their perfidy, because no utility would have followed.