[1]section icomment
1. the index.
In 1901, a reviewer of the Roman Index of Forbidden Books opened his review by congratulating himself on having before him a genuine copy of that book, of which, he says, only a very limited number were printed for the exclusive use of “the leaders of the church”. because of its scarcity, he thinks, the owner of the volume, who had borrowed it, must have paid at least two hundred dollars for it. he could have bought a new copy for $2.25. the index of which he speaks, issued by order of Leo XIII, in 1900, is for sale in this country for b. shepherd, st. louis, mo. thus [2] are the three subsequent editions (1901, 1904, 1907), the last two issued under and by order of our glorious reigning pontiff, Pius X. when the reviewer felt his heart beat with joy at being able to see with his blessed eyes a book so rare, so expensive and so jealously guarded by “the leaders of the church”, a complete edition of that book had already been published. same book. sold, and a second was about to be put on the market. your title is now:
index librorum prohibitorum, leonis xiii sum. pont. auctoritate recognitus ss. d. north. pii p. x iussu editus. præmittuntur constitutiones apostolicæ de examine et prohibitione librorum. (Index of prohibited books, revised by the authority of Pope Leo XIII, and issued by order of His Holiness Pope Pius X. Preceded by the Apostolic Constitutions on Examination and Prohibition) ban on books.)
You are reading: Index of forbidden books pdf
a glance at the carefully printed volume will reveal the reason it is called an “index”; nearly nine-tenths of it consists of a catalog of books condemned by the Roman authorities. Of greater importance [3] than this catalog are the first thirty-four pages, which give, in the “apostolic constitutions,” the general laws of the church regarding books.
There are only two “constitutions”. but the whole work is introduced by a brief from Leo XIII, in which the pontiff declares that this edition will be the authentic one for the whole church. it must be binding on all the faithful in the universe, regardless of race or language, nationality or country, education, learning, or station in life. In a preface entitled “lectori s.”, the secretary of the Roman “congregatio indicis” compares this edition of the “index” with the previous ones, points out the changes made and explains the technical layout of the book.
after these preliminaries follow the “constitutions”. The first is the “officiorum ac munerum” of Leo XIII, dated Jan. 25, 1896. This document reformulates all church legislation regarding the production, dissemination, reprinting, and prohibition of books that the church can and should deal with. [4] abrogates all previous laws and regulations of the general councils, as well as of the sovereign pontiffs, with one exception: the constitution sollicita ac provida of benedict xiv, also reproduced here, by which this great pope established or rather sanctioned a method: the one still in use, that of examining and passing sentence on the books presented to the Roman authorities.
These two constitutions contain all the general legislation of the church in the head of the books.
There is no such thing as an “expurgatory index”. if there were, it would consist of conditionally condemned books, donec corrigatur, “until amended”. but such books are all listed in the ordinary index, with those two Latin words added. in the Pope Lion edition they are also marked with an asterisk.
2. the power of the church.
That the church has the right to legislate on the publication and use of all books that touch on questions of faith and morals should be evident to every Catholic. is [5] a truth clearly contained in the words of christ to st. Peter: “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep”, and in the duty imposed on the apostles to “teach the faithful to observe all that I have commanded you”.
The fact that both general councils and many popes have issued laws and decrees on books, is proof enough of their power and of their commission to do so. this very fact should also convince us that the observance of these laws should be wholesome and conducive to the welfare of the church in general and of the individual Christian.
the inventions, discoveries and progress of our time cannot introduce changes in this regard. the human mind is still as prone to error and as subject to the persuasive influence of books as it ever was. good books are as useful today as they were in ancient times, and objectionable writings have the same deplorable effects as they did a thousand years ago.
nor can the church, having the power to watch over our reading, fail to make use of this power when the salvation of souls requires it. bad literature is one of the worst enemies of humanity. The church can never allow it to corrupt the hearts of its children or undermine the foundation of their faith, without at least raising a voice of warning.
how great are the precautions taken by civil authorities in case of an epidemic; however, no matter how seriously the precautions hamper traffic and commerce, we find them reasonable. we should even blame our executive and legislative officials if they failed to take proper precautions. but, says Pope Leo, in the constitution officiorum ac munerum, nothing can be conceived more pernicious, more apt to contaminate souls than unbridled license in the writing and dissemination of bad books. “therefore”, he continues, “the church, whose office it is to ensure the integrity of faith and morals, has always endeavored, to the best of its ability, to prevent the faithful from reading bad books as if they were a deadly poison.”
[7]3. bans on books prior to the Roman index.
“The early days of the church witnessed the fervent zeal of st. Paul”, when the Christians of Ephesus gathered all the superstitious books they had in their possession and publicly burned them. this example of loyalty to the church cost them, as the holy scripture says, between eight and nine thousand dollars. such was the policy regarding bad books in Ephesus at a time when the apostle, whom many like to call the most liberal and open-minded, ruled that part of the church.
each subsequent age records similar vigilance measures. the first general council of nicæa, in 325, in addition to outlawing the aryan heresy, also issued a decree forbidding the use of the aryan book thalia, which contained his heresy; in fact, at all times the condemnation of a heresy by the church implied the prohibition of the works that propagated it. papa st. Leo the Great, 440-461, does not hesitate to declare that whoever reads forbidden books[8] cannot be considered Catholic.
in the early days, the church had to turn its attention largely to the many so-called apocryphal books, which falsely claimed to have been inspired by god and to be part of the holy scriptures. In 496, Pope Gelasius issued his famous decree, in which he lists the true books of the Bible, a number of writings of the fathers (which he recommends), together with a short list of apocryphal and heretical books, the reading of which he prohibits.
in 745, by order of the pope, a roman synod examined and banned a series of superstitious books sent by st. boniface, who had found them among the Germans.
in fact, already in those days all the current church book legislation existed in all its essential features, although there were few written decrees. it seems that the duty of the loyal Christian to avoid bad books, and the power of the church to forbid them, were considered so self-evident that no need for written laws was felt.
The need to ensure the mental nourishment of the faithful became more urgent [9] when, in the fifteenth century, the printing press was invented, which popes and bishops hailed as a “divine art” and praised as the greatest blessing of God. providence in the natural order. it spread rapidly. Before the year 1500, the city of Rome alone had one hundred and ninety printing presses. the oldest of them, in the first seven years of its existence, produced no less than twenty-eight works in forty-seven editions, the total number of pages being one hundred and twenty-four million.
As for the moral quality of printed books in that period, a German, Wimpheling, writes with pardonable pride in 1507: “We Germans control practically the entire intellectual market of civilized Europe; The books, however, that we bring to this market are for the most part works of great quality, tending to the honor of God, the salvation of souls and the civilization of peoples.” How soon, alas, was this going to change! even while these words were being written, the evil was already taking root, and measures had been taken by both civil and ecclesiastical power to [10] prevent the printing and dissemination of harmful books.
but it was not until the beginning of the so-called reformation that the limitless increase of heretical and pernicious literature demanded radical and extensive measures. They began in 1520 with the solemn condemnation of Luther’s doctrine and the prohibition of his writings. around that time the first indexes or catalogs of prohibited books appeared. they were not issued by popes, but emanated mainly from bishops, provincial councils, or universities. the civil power was expected to enforce them. in some cases the princes themselves or the magistrates of cities and republics issued their own indices, in full harmony and after consultation with the clergy.
As the object of these measures was to safeguard the faithful from imminent danger, we can easily understand that the catalogs of prohibited books were more numerous in the countries most exposed to heresy, namely, Germany, Belgium, France and the north italy.
[11]it is notable that henry viii of england, who later fell away from the church, was one of the first to legislate against heretical books, his index of forbidden books appearing as early as 1526. after his apostasy he continued with increased the severity of the policy of banning books it considered objectionable.4. the roman index.
more than thirty years after henry viii’s first index appeared, the first roman index of forbidden books was compiled and published by order of paul iv. it remained in force only a few years, until 1564, when the so-called Tridentine index was published under Pius IV. It was called “Tridentine”, because it had been drawn up by a commission appointed for this purpose by the Council of Trent. it was milder than the index of paul iv and contained several “index rules”, the precursors of the general decrees incorporated in the constitution “officiorum ac munerum”.
The Tridentine index remained the Roman index for more than three hundred [12] years. its “rules” were occasionally modified, new rules added or old ones repealed, other books inserted into the catalogue; but the essential features remained the same.
In 1897, Leo XIII took up the matter. the index of banned books was thoroughly revised. about a thousand were eliminated. the “rules”, too, were revised, “to make them milder, without altering their nature, so that it may not be difficult or troublesome for any person of good will to obey them.”
This, then, represents the entire law book of the church. there are no other documents, except the decrees by which, as occasion required, individual books were prohibited. Pius X’s encyclical on modernism simply orders bishops special vigilance regarding publications infected with modernist views.
This universal legislation, however, does not preclude local banning of books by bishops or other ecclesiastical authorities. thus spain had, until 1820, its own index [13], controlled by the spanish inquisition.
5. books prohibited by general or particular decrees.
as we have already mentioned, the constitution “officiorum ac munerum” establishes the general laws by which books are prohibited. as will be seen in our summary, these laws deal with classes of books. the only one expressly named is the bible. but all the books clearly contained in these classes are as strictly, and sometimes even more so, condemned than those listed individually in the second part of the index.
the lion pope changed the Tridentine rules “without altering their nature”. it is, indeed, difficult to see how the nature of these regulations could have been changed. they simply express the point of view from which the church should view objectionable publications. While opposing and condemning spoken error, the church surely cannot allow print to completely dominate. Regarding the second part, or index proper, there are many misconceptions. [14] one of them is that this index contains all the books prohibited by the church, and that there are no others that we are obliged to avoid. from the above observations, it must, on the contrary, be concluded that there are many other books prohibited by the laws of the church. the worst of them are not in this special index at all, because they fall under the general decrees.
It is by no means the intention of the Roman authorities to catalog all the literary virus that has been spewed out by printing presses around the world over four and a half centuries. Through the general laws established in the “officiorum ac munerum” we can in all cases see our duty.
There are especially two purposes for which books are prohibited separately and by name.
whenever there is a doubt about the nature of a book, roma can be resorted to; sometimes the Roman authorities appointed for this purpose will take up the matter [15] without being appealed. they will investigate and decide by putting the book in the index, or discarding it. this is the case for most publicly censored books. This was the case with the books of Schell and Loisy, which, scholars strenuously insisted, propagated ideas contrary, or at least dangerous, to the faith, although a multitude of followers admired them as orthodox masterpieces. Rome had to speak and settled the controversy by condemning the books in question.
Firing does not always mean that a book is unobjectionable. The authorities may refrain from pronouncing a deserved sentence for reasons of prudence and convenience.
Sometimes the preservation of religious discipline or unity requires this step. thus, some two hundred years ago, the pope had silenced two factions engaged in a theological dispute. this silence was violated on both sides, a book appearing for the defense of either position. what more natural than to put both [16] books in the index? these and other similar cases could not be covered so clearly by general decrees.
what has been said so far, offers a partial solution to another current bug. the index is not a carefully selected, or even systematically ordered, catalog of objectionable books. it was the need of the moment, the doctrinal errors, the musings and the heresies, the serious transgressions against discipline and charity, coming from animosity or lack of tact, that provoked the insertion of most of the books. in almost all cases the Roman authorities confine themselves to the books to which appeal is made; and as there is no system in making these appeals, there can be no system in convictions. in the new leonine edition of the index the books are listed alphabetically by authors or pseudonyms; anonymous books are listed by title.
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It should now be obvious to the attentive reader why most of the books included in the index are works on theology, or on church history and government, and [17] why (as might be expected from the case of such publications), a considerable percentage are written in Latin. however, a good number of books are in the index because they are detrimental to good morals. there are very few there dealing with the natural sciences. the index will not deal with publications on electricity or x-rays, unless an author on such a subject devotes a considerable part of his work to attacks on religion.
there are some well-intentioned people who, while agreeing that the productions of zola, dumas and other similar writers deserve condemnation, cannot understand why works like the history of the popes de ranke , who is a recognized authority on his line, should be banned. such works are not indexed for the good things they contain, but for the poison they mix with healthy food so cleverly that it takes more than ordinary erudition and discretion to separate one from the other.
the roman committee of cardinals, which is in charge of this part of the ecclesiastical discipline [18], is not at all bent on proscribing books. works such as the one mentioned are never included in the index unless it is very clear that the evil feared from them will far outweigh the good they can do. Well-grounded scholars and students who have a real and legitimate cause for reading a prohibited book can easily obtain a waiver.
It is clear from the explanations above that sometimes a book can be removed from the index. this is done when a book has ceased to be dangerous, or cause for dissension, or has fallen into oblivion. Thus, Pope Leo XIII caused about a thousand titles to be erased. This does not imply a reproach to the authorities of past centuries, much less the renunciation of an iota of the old principles.
6. duties imposed by law and by nature.
suppose a person were so well grounded in faith and virtue, so deeply versed in theology, philosophy, and natural science, that reading books e. gram. [19] on christian science, or the works of voltaire, would not hurt him. the index prohibits these books; would one whom they could not harm be allowed to read them? as we put the case, he, reading them, would not commit the sin of seriously endangering his soul. however, he would sin by ignoring a positive church law. these laws are like precautionary measures taken by civil authorities in times of epidemic; if they are to have the desired effect, they must be observed by all. When the community is in quarantine, those who declare themselves free of the disease must observe the regulations just like everyone else.
May those who believe they have a good reason to read a forbidden book, and who are not mistaken in assuming that there is no danger to them, humbly ask permission, as the saints did. in doing so, they declare that the standpoint of the church is their own, and that they submit voluntarily to a power entrusted with the care of “teaching to observe all that I have commanded you.” “[20] we need to develop a loving habit of loyalty and obedience to the church as to christ, our savior.”
Suppose, on the other hand, that there were no church laws prohibiting pernicious reading. in that case, should we allow ourselves to read any book we want? no way. we should then, it is true, reading, e. eg, the novels of zola, not to commit an act of disobedience to the church. But, as has already been hinted at, there is another duty that God himself imposes on us: the grave duty to protect our souls from grave dangers. this duty does not depend on any positive law or decree of authority, and binds the Christian and the non-Christian alike. it is expressed in the fifth commandment: “thou shalt not kill”. This duty corresponds on our part to what we ask of God in the sixth petition of the Our Father: “Lead us not into temptation.” we should certainly violate it by reading zola’s dirty works. the prohibition of these works by the church does no more than add another obligation to that imposed by natural law, thus considerably strengthening [21] our will and allowing us to resist any temptation to read what can only be read at serious risk to our soul.
This grave duty, therefore, is not imposed by the church and cannot be removed by the church. it is a natural duty and as such remains in force even after formal permission is granted to us, which is neither intended nor capable of repressing the temptations that may arise from reading bad books. if we have a good reason for requesting permission, curiosity is not a good reason, then and only then can we expect special protection from divine providence. Of course, this protection does not exempt us from the need to use all means of self-protection, both natural and supernatural.
I know a priest who was a model man in every way. he suddenly left the church, got married, and is now an outstanding champion in the ranks of the enemy. his apostasy is attributed, not without reason, to the reading of infidel books, although he certainly had the necessary dispensation.
[22]There was another priest, who has meanwhile died the death of the righteous, a famous author and art critic. writing a paper on voltaire he had to study the books of that arch-agnostic. He obtained the required permission, but, while examining Voltaire’s writings, he was on his knees, imploring, as it were, with this humble posture God’s protection against the perverse influence to which he was exposed.st. Francis de Sales, the great and learned Bishop of Geneva, had obtained permission to read the books of the heretics in order to refute them, and he is careful to make the fact known to his readers, at the same time thanking God with pathetic words that his soul he had suffered no harm in such great peril.
This grave natural duty in the choice of our reading material extends far beyond church law. fathers and priests do not fulfill their obligation to control the reading of their charges if they simply consult the index to see if a certain book is mentioned there. if an otherwise unobjectionable book[23] contains an obscene passage of a page or so, no one will claim that it falls under the general law prohibiting obscene books. nor is it likely to be included in the index. however, such a book can wreak havoc on the innocent soul of your daughter or son, perhaps your own. as long as that passage is in it, the book, even if it is not in the index, cannot and should not, under penalty of sin, be allowed into the hands of children.
I wish this double duty would always be faithfully fulfilled, especially in our big cities, where books of all kinds are within reach. Do not many, perhaps all, public libraries offer, among others, books “derogatory of the church, of the hierarchy, of the religious state”, and especially novels that “defend Masonry, suicide, divorce as legal or tolerable”? ? how can we expect our young people to have catholic views on courtship and marriage, on the priesthood, on the veneration of saints, if we allow them to soak up the ideas of writers like balzac or dumas? it is quite deplorable [24] that the modern novel is the catechism of millions outside the church. we must not allow it to displace the Catholic catechism or to dismiss, in whole or in part, the truths taught by it.
7. who puts the books in the index?
Popes have at all times exercised the prerogative of their supreme office as guardians of the faith by condemning books opposed to the faith. The last such condemnation is that of 1862, from the works of the Munich professor, Frohschammer, who responded to this condemnation by departing from the church. there are a total of 144 books that were individually proscribed by a papal document. in the Pope Lion edition they are marked with a dagger. however, only in cases of great importance did the popes act. To facilitate the governance of the world church, special committees of cardinals were appointed over the centuries, entrusted with part of the various duties of the pontiff. these committees are called congregations. a greater or lesser number [25] of wise priests and bishops, generally called consultants, assist the cardinals and do practically most of the work, although the final decision in all cases is reserved to the cardinals.
The highest of these Roman congregations is the sacrum officium or “general inquisition”, also called “congregation of the holy office”, of which the pope himself is prefect. its purpose is especially to watch over the purity of the faith. it is this august body which, after the pope himself, is called in the first place to judge the doctrines proposed in any book. it was this congregation that carried out the preparatory work for the first index of paul iv and, although another congregation for the examination of books was established shortly thereafter, the sacrum officium continued to exercise the same power. As expected, especially those works that seemed to affect the integrity of the faith, were submitted to this supreme court. in our days the works of the french priest loisy were proscribed by the sacrum officium.
[26]but most of this work is currently carried out by the congregatio indicis librorum prohibitorum, or “congregation of the index of prohibited books”. It was founded by Saint Pius V in 1571, seven years after the publication of the Tridentine Index. since then about eighty percent. of all individual bans on books have emanated from him. its prefect is a cardinal. the current one is cardinal segna. the perpetual assistant and the secretary are always members of the Dominican order. In addition to the seven or ten cardinals, there are about thirty consultants, many of whom are bishops.Although three or four book bans have emanated from other Roman authorities, the practice has been to let the sacrum officium or the congregation of the index decide in all cases. this last congregation, in addition, had to record all the sentences pronounced by any of the legitimate authorities and ensure that they were registered in the new editions of the index.
Our current holy father, Pius X, [27] has recently carried out a long-awaited reform in the central government of the church. the competence of many of the Roman congregations has been more clearly defined, and several of those originally instituted have been suppressed or united with others. the congregation of the index has been given a broader sphere and greater power. whereas before it only passed over the books expressly appealed against, it has now become a regular vigilance committee for the whole church. the holy father says: “from now on it will be the responsibility of this sacred congregation not only to diligently examine the books that are reported to it, to prohibit them, if this seems good, and to grant dispensations; but also to officially investigate in the best possible way if writings of any kind are circulating that should be condemned; and to remind the ordinaries how strictly they are bound to condemn pernicious writings and denounce them to the Holy See.”
Regarding the relationship of the congregation of the index with that of the sacrum officium [28] (holy office) the pope says: “as the prohibition of books very often has the scope of defense of the faith , which is also the object of the Congregation of the Holy Office, we decree that in the future in everything related to the prohibition of books, and only in those, the Cardinals, Consultors and officials of both Congregations, may communicate with each other other, and that they will all be bound by the same secrecy.”
Roman congregations are not infallible. but they represent the pope in the highest capacity of him as shepherd of all the flock of christ. therefore, we owe them obedience. His regulations and orders should find us even more willing to obey than those of our bishops and pastors, who are entrusted with only a small portion of the kingdom of Christ.
8. the examination method.
Our confidence in the fairness of the sentences of the s. the congregation of the index will greatly increase, if we become acquainted with the method which he follows in accomplishing [29] his arduous, odious, and yet very important task. this method is practically the same for both the holy office and the index. the usual procedure is mainly based on the norms established in the bull of pope benedict xiv, “sollicita ac provida”.
When a book is reported to the indexed congregation, the clerk first tries to determine if it is worth examining. he also inquires by letter to bishops and other trustworthy persons about the desirability of a condemnation. several consultants assist him in this preliminary investigation; but the cardinal prefect has to ratify his decision.
If they think the book should be examined, they give it to a consultant, who must study it carefully and write a detailed report, noting exactly the passages he finds objectionable and conscientiously pointing out all the redemptive aspects. his report along with the book is passed on to other consultants, each of whom can ascertain whether the first “examiner’s” verdict is fair, and has [30] also the opportunity to formulate his own opinion. One question they must answer is whether the conviction is likely to have a good effect.
after collating the opinions of the consultants, the secretary of the congregation draws up an official statement of the reasons for and against a ban, which statement, together with the book, is presented to the cardinal prefect, on whose orders it is printed and a copy sent to each cardinal and consultor of the congregation.
A preparatory meeting of the consultants will soon be convened for a prior discussion. The consultant who reviewed the book speaks first, then everyone else, starting with the youngest. The secretary carefully records the opinions of each consultant, along with his reasons.
at least ten days must elapse between this meeting and the solemn session of the entire congregation, at which the matter is finally decided by a vote of the cardinals.
the decision reached is commonly expressed in one of four technical phrases: [31] damnetur, “condemned”; dimittatur, “fired”; donec corrigatur, “prohibited until modified”; res dilata, “the case is postponed”. the verdict donec corrigatur can of course only be given when a book admits correction; when it is completely bad (for example, written for the sole purpose of praising Freemasonry or defaming Catholic bishops), a donec corrigatur would be meaningless.
Finally, the secretary of the congregation raises the whole matter with the pope, who, if he sees fit, authorizes the publication of the decree.
Nobody will deny that this is an excellent method of procedure. under it a book is examined at least three times, and twenty-five or thirty chosen scholars take part in the proceedings, each of whom has taken a solemn oath never to be swayed by sympathy or antipathy and to have nothing else in mind than the eternal welfare of souls.
If the author is Catholic, he must be informed before the decree is published. if a few copies of the book have been sold, and the author promises to suppress it or publish an amended edition, if possible, the decree is not published. but even when this cannot be prevented, e.g. gram. when a complete edition is already in circulation, credit is given to the author in the decree itself for declaring his submission, adding the words: auctor laudabiliter se subject , “the author has submitted worthily”.
Great care is taken that all books are examined by men who are not only well versed in the subject, but also thoroughly understand the language in which they are written. nor is the congregation in important cases limited to its regular consultants; whenever it seems convenient, the services of other competent critics are contracted.
all members of the congregation are bound by oath to absolute secrecy regarding every detail of official dealings, regardless of whether a book under discussion is ultimately condemned or not. in this way everyone feels freer [33] to give their opinion, and the author’s reputation is saved as much as possible.
9. the spirit of the index congregation.
Regarding the spirit that should animate the members of the congregation of the index, the rules established for their consultants by Benedict XIV in the bull “sollicita ac provida” are instructive.
“ipsos … monemus ac veheenter hortamur ut in examine iudicioque librorum sequentes regulas diligenter inspiciant precisionque custodio.” “we want to warn you and urgently urge you to carefully study and observe precisely the following rules for examining and judging books:
1. let them not imagine that it is their duty to use every means to bring about the damnation of the books that are presented to them. they should rather study such books conscientiously, without passion or anxiety (sedato animo), to [34] provide well-founded observations, reasons so objective, that they enable the congregation to render a just verdict.
2. If a consultant finds that he is not competent to judge a book which he is asked to examine, let him know that he will not be blameless, neither before God nor before men, unless he immediately confesses his incompetence. far from damaging his reputation with the pope or the cardinals, such a confession will rather win their esteem and praise for its frankness and honesty.
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3. that they put aside absolutely all prejudice in favor of the nation, the family, the school or order; that they renounce all party spirit, and keep in their minds the undoubted doctrine of the church, as set forth in the decrees of councils, in papal documents, etc., knowing that there are opinions which, though they seem true at first glance, nation, school, or order, are, with the knowledge of the Holy See, opposed by others; leaving the holy see all these opinions in their degree of probability.
4. it must also be borne in mind that [35] it is impossible to judge fairly the meaning of a passage, unless the whole book is studied, and unless the various statements found in different sections are compared with each other, and the whole purpose of the book is constantly kept in view.
5. If an author who enjoys a reputation for sound theological scholarship has used expressions that can be understood both incorrectly and correctly, justice requires that they be, as far as possible, interpreted in his favor.
These and similar rules…should be kept in mind by consultants, so that they may have due regard to their own conscience, the good name of the authors, the interests of the church, and the welfare of the people. souls.”
10. more explanations.
a. why an author is not allowed to defend his book.
If an author could accompany each copy of his work that comes out of the bookstore or library, he would be able to explain [36] obscure passages and show what meaning he wishes to convey to the reader in doubtful phrases. it is precisely because he cannot multiply himself that he uses printer’s ink to convey his ideas to others. therefore his words must be supposed to mean what he intends to say. the reader, in any case, has no corrective. he only has the book, not the author to turn to. it is impossible to turn to the author when it comes to the correctness or incorrectness of a book. if the author has to be called to explain the meaning of the book to him, he should have left it unpublished.
Furthermore, it is hardly credible, as Pope Benedict XIV points out, that anything an author can advance in his favor escapes so many examiners without receiving due attention and emphasis.
The entire procedure is not intended primarily as a measure against the perpetrator, although it may result in pecuniary loss, but to protect the faithful. a condemnation is more a warning to the potential reader than a punishment inflicted on the [37] author. it is not an act of jurisdiction. if the author’s personal views were investigated, he would be personally summoned to another court and tried according to a method that gave him the widest opportunity to defend himself.
These considerations also show that the condemnation of a book after the death of its author is not unreasonable. a book remains what it is regardless of its author. nor would it change the nature of a book if the author afterwards proved its orthodoxy to the satisfaction of the authorities, or did penance in sackcloth and ashes, or for the rest of his mortal life consorted with the Trappists. if it were morally certain, however, that almost all copies of a book were destroyed, a prohibitive decree would fail its purpose.
b. the index does not announce bad books.
From time to time the fear is expressed that the index, far from suppressing, rather announces bad books and arouses the desire to read them. it is even argued [38] that in some cases malicious authors have intentionally written to get their books listed in the index.
however, any prohibitive law can have the effect of increasing the inclination of men towards the prohibited thing or act. therefore, a person may feel a greater appetite for meat on Friday than any other day of the week. We have inherited this tendency from Eve, who, when tempted, saw that the forbidden fruit “was good to eat and pleasing to the eye and delicious to behold,” and then proceeded to break the first prohibitive law ever given. but is that a reason to do away with all prohibitive laws?
Who does not immediately see that the index must be a very poor advertising medium? those who have it are certainly not the likely buyers of immoral novels or works that propagate heretical views in theology; while those who crave sensationalism or dubious theology will not spend $2.25 on a book list containing e.g. gram. by 1898, a total of eight [39] titles, four of which are German, and by 1903 fifteen, all French.
This side of the issue, as we have pointed out elsewhere, is also carefully weighed in each case by the sacred congregation, before deciding on a ban.
even if the sale of a book were increased by the fact of its condemnation, the index would achieve its main objective, namely, to warn the faithful that the ideas espoused in the banned book are contrary to faith and morals. this is enough for all men of good will to avoid the poison. those who refuse to heed the warning will have their own ignorance or malice to blame if reading a condemned book results in spiritual harm.
c. index decisions not omitted for fear of apostasy.
A book, we are reminded, often represents the views not only of its author, but also of many of his disciples and admirers. by banning it and thereby branding such [40] views as erroneous, it is said, many influential men may be embittered and even driven into an attitude of outright hostility.
however, the church has the duty to exercise its tutelage; what she can’t do if everyone wants to get their own way. nor can the church neglect the mass of her children to accommodate this or that clique or school, whose views are manifestly erroneous.
Furthermore, to be a reliable guide, the church must state the truth clearly and unequivocally. the faithful are not guided by ambiguous circumlocutions, by terms that can be understood in two or perhaps more ways. nor can it remain exclusively on the heights of theory; but she must instruct regarding the facts of everyday life. the dangers arising from books are concrete, not abstract, and must be tackled with concrete measures. this can be done effectively only by a strong and unequivocal “you must not”, which makes men realize that they are “under authority”.
[41]no one has ever told the truth more clearly, more unequivocally than christ our lord. Was it not precisely for this very reason that “many of his disciples turned back and walked no more with him”? (John 6, 67.)d. the “good Catholic.”
“I am Catholic. I live according to my religion and regularly attend the sacraments. I have had a good Catholic education and I listen to a sermon every Sunday. I don’t see why I should be afraid to read any book, even if it belongs to those banned by the index.”
you can do it; but you can go accordingly as he went to david, david who was a saint and yet committed adultery and murder. if you read a forbidden book without permission, you are as good a Catholic as someone who eats meat on Fridays. the object of the law of abstinence is to ensure that every Christian performs at least a certain minimum of penance. now there are saints who, in imitation of our crucified savior, do more penance on [42] ordinary days than the average Catholic by abstaining from eating twenty or more Fridays; and yet they are not exempt from the law of abstinence and would be the last to claim such an exemption.
Similarly, the point of the index is to make sure every Christian avoids at least the worst books. by obeying his laws we declare that our point of view is that of the church of god. this result cannot be obtained unless the prohibition is made universal, exempting no one, however pious or wise. therefore, all Christians, good and bad, priests, religious and laity, students and professors, unless excused, are bound by the ecclesiastical laws on the books. By requesting a dispensation, we implicitly recognize and approve the official position of the church on the subject of evil books and, to the extent that it corresponds to us, we ratify and sanction the reasons that lead to their condemnation.
You say you are a good Catholic, and therefore this law does not oblige you. are there [43] church commandments binding only bad catholics?
e. a deadly sin.
“I have been told that the transgression of the index law is a mortal sin. Is it true that the church, the kindest of mothers, burdens us with such a severe obligation?”
According to theologians, reading a forbidden book, or a considerable part of it, is a mortal sin. the selection of the books on which our souls feed is a matter of no small importance. true, the church is the kindest of mothers; but she is also the wisest. to direct the consciences of their children and “refrain them from reading bad books as from a deadly poison”, is the great object of their legislation. Under the leadership of a mastermind like that of Leo XIII, the Roman authorities have worked for years to formulate the current ecclesiastical laws on books. these laws are the voice of the supreme shepherd, the successor of st. peter [44] let us not despise her like the pagans and publicans.
f. the Galilean case.
Roman congregations are no more infallible than our bishops and pastors. and yet there is practically but one case, for more than three centuries, in which they are accused of having made a mistake. it is the condemnation, both by the holy office and by the index, of galileo galilei linceo (died 1639) for defending the theory that the earth moves around its own axis and around the sun.
this teaching was according to the common belief of Catholics and Protestants, at that time, clearly opposed to the holy scripture, which the church was obliged to vindicate. If Galileo’s theory were true, the traditional interpretation of various biblical texts would have to be abandoned.
the church had compelling reasons not to allow this. the new theory was not entirely certain. Galileo himself admitted that he could not establish more than a probability. [45] several very obvious objections which he was unable to explain satisfactorily. none of the actual tests used today were known to him. The Jesuit Cardinal Bellarmine told him that if he could present any convincing evidence for his theory, he would abandon the traditional interpretation of those passages. But all Galileo had to offer was an ingenious hypothesis. had he defended it as such with due respect for the traditional interpretation of the book of books, had he not used bold, sometimes bitter and defiant language, no action would have been taken against him, hitherto the favorite of the pope and many dignitaries. As it was, “the church could expect the education of a physical system, but could not allow a change in the universally accepted interpretation of the scriptures, before the necessity of such a change had been proved.” (guggenberger, history of the christian era. vol. ii, pp. 456, etc.)
“the marvelous unanimity of the enemies of the church in concentrating all their attacks against the roman congregation[46] in the case of galileo, is an astonishing negative testimony to the value of the decisions of the courts that have been working for centuries .” (Rome.)
g. state and protestant book laws.
as we have already discussed, henry viii continued his policy of banning books opposed to his views long after he had established himself as head of the english church. between 1526 and 1546, nine catalogs of books that the English were forbidden to read were published by the king’s authority. Among these books were the works of the continental “reformers”; for a few years the English Bible; also written against the matrimonial plans of the king.
The mainland Protestants followed the same system. Calvin condemned a Spanish doctor, who happened to come to Geneva, to be burned at the stake, because he had written a heretical book. Protestant princes and republics each had their special legislation-book, which was made [47] to serve not only religious but also political ends.
after the middle of the eighteenth century, in almost all catholic countries, the civil power usurped the monopoly of the proscription of books, and practiced it in a truly despotic way. Thus, in Austria, 639 books were banned in five years. no book was allowed to be printed without prior permission, not even on forestry or ranching. the bishops were severely reprimanded for enforcing the prohibitions of the Roman index in their seminaries.
napoleon i had a publisher shot, practically without trial, for publishing a work contrary to his political plans. one book was publicly burned because it contained the image of Pius VII. So that the authorities could better control the book trade, no printing company could have, in Paris more than four, and in the provinces more than two, printing houses.
It goes without saying that civil authorities have the right to ban books that seriously threaten the common good. if [48] they use this right in a reasonable manner, their measures are likely to produce good and prevent evil. we all have occasional opportunities to observe this in the measures taken against immoral literature by the police or the post office.
h. some examples of sending to the index.
The first Roman index, that of 1559, was considered quite severe. one of the influential men who strove to soften his provisions was the blessed peter canisius, the “second apostle of germany”. However, the very letters he wrote to Rome for this purpose show that he scrupulously observed all regulations, although he himself, called the “hammer of heretics”, surely incurred little personal risk by reading forbidden books.
Around 1698, a book by Archbishop Fénelon was under investigation in Rome. Fenelon was a great scholar and one of the greatest preachers of all the centuries, but he was also a loyal son of the church. he knew that a condemnation of his book [49] would mean his own condemnation in the eyes of catholic france. His friends, as well as his antagonists, eagerly awaited Rome’s decision on one of the great ecclesiastic’s books. finally the verdict was pronounced in the most solemn manner by the pope himself, and it was a condemnation. Fénelon was going up to his pulpit on March 25, 1699, when his brother broke the news to him. the great archbishop immediately proceeded to read his own flock from the papal document and preached an eloquent sermon on the obedience every Christian owes to his superiors. we can imagine the deep impression his words must have made. his was a truly heroic example of self-sacrifice.
in 1861 ernest von lasaulx, a famous university professor, died in munich. in his writings he had been very bold from time to time, and it was rumored that the index congregation planned to censor some of his books. von lasaulx knew it. a few weeks before his death he made an implicit retraction of the mistakes he might have made unintentionally, [50] which was sent to Rome by his friends. already some years before he had declared that he had never intended to contravene the doctrine of the church, but that he feared that there were many errors in his books. “Should Rome see fit to put my books on the Index, I should consider the verdict perfectly fair, since I firmly believe that such measures are truly in the interest of the Catholic Church in our time.” four of his books were actually condemned after his death.
In July 1906, an Italian novel, il santo, (the saint) by fogazzaro, was indexed. the author “submitted”. meanwhile, an American edition of the book had appeared; “But the prohibition of the Roman authorities was duly respected by the editors of the main Catholic newspapers in America, who refused to accept advertisements for the book.” (putnam.)
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