The Decretals of Gregory IX include the infallible Innocent II and III “baptism of desire” letters, as well as letters and rules commanding all the Eastern Patriarchates, proving that they were not only for the Latin Rite. Ex. CAP. I. Patriarcha, qui confirmatum in archiepiscopum transfert ad sedem episcopalem, ab episcoporum confirmatione suspenditur. Ioan. Andr. Innocentius III. Antiocheno Patriarchae. Quum ex illo generali privilegio, quod beato Petro et per eum ecclesiae Romanae Dominus noster indulsit, canonica postmodum manaverint instituta, continentia maiores ecclesiae causas esse ad sedem apostolicam perferendas, ac per hoc translationes episcoporum, sicut depositiones eorum, et sedium mutationes ad summum apostolicae sedis antistitem de iure pertineant, nec super his quicquam praeter eius assensum debeat immutari: miramur non modicum et movemur, quod [tu], praedecessoris tui exempla secutus, qui motu propriae voluntatis Mamistanum in Tarsensem dicitur transtulisse, L. quondam Apamensem electum in Tripolitanam ecclesiam transtulisti, nec tibi sufficit dictam praedecessoris tui praesumptionem solummodo imitari, immo etiam in iniuriam nostram ipsius transgressus excessum et, novo quodam mutationis genere parvificasti maiorem, et magnum quodammodo minorasti, episcopare archiepiscopum, immo potius dearchiepiscopare praesumens, quum dictus praedecessor tuus dictum archiepiscopum de Tharsensi ecclesia in ecclesiam transtulerit similis dignitatis. Licet enim dictus L. nondum fuisset in archiepiscopum consecratus, confirmationis tamen munus receperat, et archiepiscopalia, quantum ei licuit, ministrarat, sicut nobis ipsius relatione innotuit, qui se Valiensem episcopum quum in nostra esset praesentia constitutus, asseruit confirmasse. Ne igitur perpetrandi similia ceteris audacia tribuatur, si tantus excessus relictus fuerit impunitus te ab episcoporum confirmatione duximus suspendendum, quousque super hoc aliud statuamus, [sciturus etc. Dat. Lateran. XVI. Kal. Apr. 1198.]
The Decretals of Gregory IX declared that they applied to “all”: CAP. I. Iuris canonici statuta omnes ligant, et eorum ritu tam in pronunciando quam in decidendo iudicia sunt regulanda. Ex concilio Meldensi. Canonum statuta [sine praeiudicio] custodiantur ab omnibus, et nemo in actionibus vel iudiciis ecclesiasticis suo sensu, sed eorum auctoritate ducatur.
Even though I’ve just demonstrated Gregory IX’s 1234 decretals on baptism of desire were universal, Gregory XVI does not limit infallible laws to only those that are universal. If a finger is a part of the hand, does it cease to be a part of the whole body? Of course not. ALL THE DISCIPLINE of the Church is infallible. Gregory XVI does not limit it to universal discipline only. If so how could he say that it included the “administration of rites” when no rite is universal? If he wanted to mean universal he would have said it. The rites of the Church are not imposed on all the members of the Church, and the administration of those rites is specifically included by his description. “Furthermore, the discipline sanctioned by the Church must never be rejected or be branded as contrary to certain principles of natural law. It must never be called crippled, or imperfect or subject to civil authority. In this discipline THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRED RITES, standards of morality, and the reckoning of the rights of the Church and her ministers are embraced.” -Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos, #9
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