Sanctuarium profanis occlusum, sive, de ss. bibliorum prohibitione in lingua vulgari seu vernacula tractatus

sion that the Holy Scripture should not be spread everywhere to everyone ought not to be considered an abuse, or a frivolous imagination that sprouted in the common people without any foundation other than their own brain and sense; and much less is it a pernicious and gross error and a scandalous opinion, as some have recently wished to persuade; but it is a legitimate sense supported by the ordinance of the Church, strengthened by the authority of Pontifical Bulls, and conformable to the rules of prudence and sound judgment. And because the principal reason that moved the adversaries of such a holy doctrine to argue against it as an abuse, and to load it with invectives, was the zeal shining in overturning the foundation or occasion of a certain violent slander, by which the enemies of the Church have been accustomed to obscure its glory, by reproaching that it prevents the lamp of divine Scripture from being lit, as if it were safe to walk through darkness without it; hence an occasion was offered to me to invade the Heretics, and to show the iniquity of their slanders; and that for their part they have nothing but rashness and insolence. Finally, I end this Work by representing the unanimous consent of all recent Theologians, who by no means wish that anyone should intrude themselves into the reading of Holy Scriptures without permission — that is, not only Clerics and Priests, but also men of any condition whatsoever, they conspire to sustain my intent; and to shake the Holy Bible out of the hands of the common people. I could have joined the senses of the living to the testimonies of the departed, and at the same time enriched this Work with the judgments and approvals of many Prelates, and a huge number of Doctors: But I believed the authority of my Archbishop (to whom I am bound to render an account of my doctrine, and to submit my senses) to be alone sufficient to confer an inviolable strength to all my periods and verses; besides the fact that envy generally attacks the most splendid things: or certainly, because common and universal truths are not accustomed to appear in public with magnificent apparatus, nor to beg for foreign approvals to win Faith for themselves.

truly