1. our duties in relation to forbidden books.
rule 1. we are not allowed to read forbidden books, nor any considerable portion of them, even if those portions be in themselves harmless. if, however, a book is forbidden merely on account of the one or other objectionable passage it contains, the objection ceases as soon as these passages are expunged or rendered illegible.
rule 2. no one, whether he be the owner or not, is allowed to keep a forbidden book. he must either destroy it, or give or sell it to some one who has permission, or he must obtain permission for himself.
rule 3. it is not lawful for a catholic 52publisher or printer to issue, or print, or reprint forbidden books. nor may a bookseller keep such books in stock, unless he has obtained formal leave to do so.
note 1. although all the members of a catholic family should endeavor to keep forbidden books out of the home, the head of the household is chiefly responsible before god. it is to be remarked, however, that catholic librarians or servants do not violate this law by keeping, handling, or cataloguing forbidden books for their employers, e. g. in the latter’s house, or in a public library.
note 2. if a book or any particular issue of a forbidden periodical calls for a speedy public refutation, and if permission to peruse it cannot be waited for, any educated catholic, who may be reasonably presumed to be competent to refute it by sermon, lecture or newspaper article, may read such book or periodical without awaiting special permission.
note 3. in all other cases, each and every catholic, be he priest or layman, professor or student, must first obtain permission. 53neither piety, nor learning, nor position exempts one from this law. the permission is granted by bishops and their vicars general, who can also delegate this power to others. when asking for this permission the applicant should mention the book which he thinks he has good reasons to read.
the juridical question, whether the bishop’s faculty is ordinaria, or quasi-ordinaria, or extra-ordinaria, and how far it extends, is not within the scope of this summary.
note 4. all who are dispensed from the church law regarding forbidden books, must apply every possible precaution, in order that they may not suffer injury to their faith or purity of heart. such precautions are: the hearing of sermons, the reading of catholic books, the frequenting of catholic society, regular prayers, and the frequent and humble reception of the sacraments.
2. forbidden books.
rule 4. general rule.—translations of a forbidden book into any language, if 54they faithfully reproduce the original, are also forbidden.
a. the general decrees prohibit the following publications.
rule 5, a. books defending heresies, i. e. doctrines contrary to divine revelation.
b. books derogatory to god, the blessed virgin, the saints.
c. books vilifying the sacraments, the clerical or religious state, the hierarchy, the church.
rule 6. books professedly treating of, narrating or teaching lewdness and obscenity.
rule 7. books teaching or recommending sorcery, spiritism, christian science, or other superstitions.
rule 8. books defending as lawful or harmless freemasonry, divorce, socialism, suicide, duelling.
rule 9. those newspapers and periodicals which, not only now and then, but regularly and of set purpose, attack religion or morality, or propagate anti-catholic views.
55rule 10. episcopal approbation, to be printed in the beginning or at the end of the book, is required for all editions of the bible or parts of the bible in any language, likewise for all prayer books, books of devotion and of practical piety. without episcopal authorization such publications are forbidden, though they may have been issued by the most learned and pious men.
note 1. leaflets which are so small that they cannot be called books, or even booklets or pamphlets, do not fall under this law. but if they are not approved by the bishop, the duty of making sure that they contain nothing erroneous devolves upon those who use them.
summaries of indulgences, however, no matter how small, always need episcopal approbation and may not be circulated without it.
note 2. all editions of the bible, edited by non-catholics, in ancient as well as modern languages, are permitted to those, and those only, who are engaged in serious theological or biblical studies, provided, however, that the prolegomena 56and annotations do not of set purpose impugn the catholic faith. it is not enough that the text itself is faithfully and completely rendered.
note 3. an exception has also been made in favor of those classics, ancient and modern, which on account of their obscenity fall under rule 6. in as far as they are models of style they may be read by persons engaged in teaching university or higher college classes of literature, by those who are preparing for such a position in the near future, and by those who, on account of their profession, e. g. as critics or authors of literary works, cannot well do without them. (see note 4 above.)
whenever we know, or discover while reading, that a book undoubtedly belongs to any one of these classes, we may be sure that it is a work which our holy mother the church does not wish to see in our hands, and we must then act according to the words of christ: “he who heareth you, heareth me, and he who despiseth you despiseth me.” no need of first 57looking up the catalogue of forbidden books; whether the volume in question is mentioned there or not, makes no difference. nor does it matter what the literary character of the book is. an apparently learned history of the seizure of rome in 1870, written with the obvious intention of maligning pius ix, is forbidden just as well as a novel written for the same purpose, or the prayer book of some protestant sect.
b. books forbidden by particular decrees.
the following list contains a number of titles which every english-speaking catholic ought to know. all the books that have been put on the index during the last few years have been mentioned, not so much for completeness’ sake, as because they contain the palmary error of our time, namely: modernism, and among its doctrines especially the unchristian treatment of the bible. none of these books are written in english. but some have been and others may soon be translated. their 58titles, as well as those of most other foreign books, are given in english.
addison, jos.
remarks on several parts of italy.
bacon, francis.
de dignitate et augmentis scientiarum.
(on the dignity and increase of science.)
balzac, honoré de.
all novels.
bentham, jeremy.
three tracts, etc.
deontology or the science of morality.
bingham, jos.
origines ecclesiastic?, or the antiquities of the christian church.
blunt, john james.
vestiges of ancient manners and customs, etc.
bois, jules.
satanism.
bruno, giordano.
the conflict of religion, morals and science in contemporary education.
59bunsen, christian chas. j.
hippolytus and his age, or the doctrine and practice of the church of rome under commodus and alexander severus, etc.
bureau, paul.
the moral crisis in modern times.
preface by m. alfred croiset.
burgess, richard.
lectures on the insufficiency of unrevealed religion.
cudworth, ralph.
the true intellectual system of the universe, etc.
darwin, erasmus.
zo?nomia or the laws of organic life.
denis, chas.
an apologetic lenten course on the fundamental dogmas, 1903.
church and state: the lessons of the present hour, 1903.
descartes, rené.
meditations on original philosophy.
dimnet, ernest.
catholic thought in england.
60d?llinger, john joseph ignatius.
the pope and the council.
janus.
draper, john william.
history of the conflicts between religion and science.
duggan, james.
steps towards reunion.
dumas, alexander (father and son).
all novels, except the count of monte-cristo.
earle, john chas.
the spiritual body.
the forty days, or christ between his resurrection and ascension.
fénelon, fran?ois de salignac.
the principles of the saints.
ferrière, émile.
the soul a function of the brain.
the apostles.
darwinism.
the scientific blunders of the bible.
matter and energy.
paganism of the hebrews.
life and soul.
the myths of the bible.
61ffoulkes, edmund s.
christendom’s divisions.
the church’s creed or the crown’s creed.
fogazzaro, antonio.
the saint (a novel).
frohschammer, jacob.
origin of the human soul.
introduction to philosophy.
on the liberty of science.
christianity and modern science.
the right of one’s own conviction.
the new knowledge and the new faith.
georgel, michél.
matter: its deification, its rehabilitation, and its ultimate destiny.
gibbon, edward.
history of the decline and fall of the roman empire.
goblet d’alviella, eug.
the idea of god.
goldsmith, oliver.
an abridged history of england from the invasion of julius c?sar to the death of george ii.
62graf, arthur.
the devil.
gregorovius, ferdinand.
history of the city of rome during the middle ages.
the sepulchral monuments of the popes.
urban viii in opposition to spain and the emperor.
athena?s: the history of a byzantine empress.
wanderings in italy (fifth volume),
scenes in apulia.
hallam, henry.
the constitutional history of england, etc.
view of the state of europe during the middle ages.
heine, heinrich.
de l’allemagne.
de la france.
reisebilder.
neue gedichte.
hilaire de paris.
exposition of the rule of st. francis.
hobbes, thomas.
all works.
63houtin, albert.
the biblical question among the catholics of france in the xix century.
the biblical question in the xx century.
my troubles with my bishop.
americanism.
the crisis of the clergy.
hugo, victor.
notre dame de paris.
les misérables.
hume, david.
all works.
james i, king of england.
basilikon doron (royal gift) divided into three books.
triplici nodo triplex cuneus, etc.
meditatio in orationem dominicam.
meditatio in caput xxvii evangelii s. matthali.
kant, immanuel.
critique of pure reason.
laberthonnière, lucien.
essays on religious philosophy.
christian realism and grecian idealism.
64lacaze, félix.
to lourdes with zola.
lang, andrew.
myth, ritual and religion.
lasserre, henri.
the holy gospels.
lefranc, e. (pseudonym).
the conflicts of science and the bible.
le morin, jean.
truths of yesterday?
lenau, nicolaus.
die albigenser.
lenormant, fran?ois.
the beginnings of history.
leroy, edouard.
dogma and criticism.
locke, john.
an essay concerning human understanding.
the reasonableness of christianity, etc.
loisy, alfred.
gospel studies.
the gospel and the church.
the fourth gospel.
apropos of a little book.
the religion of israel.
65maurice, frederick d.
theological essays.
mill, john stuart.
principles of political economy.
milton, john.
liter? pseudo-senatus anglicani, cromwellii reliquorumque perduellium nomine conscript?.
mivart, st. george.
happiness in hell.
montesquieu, chas. de secondat de.
the spirit of the laws.
persian letters.
müller, joseph.
reform catholicism.
negri, ada.
fatalism.
olive, jos.
letters to the members of the pious and devout society of the heart of jesus, etc.
osborne, francis.
miscellaneous works.
payot, jules.
about faith.
before entering life.
66program of modernism (a reply to the encyclical).
planchet, franc. regis.
episcopal absolutism in the mexican republic.
pufendorf, samuel von.
introduction to the history of the principal states of europe.
(also four latin works.)
quiévreux, camille.
paganism in the xix century.
ranke, leopold.
the roman popes: their church and their state in the xvi and xvii centuries.
renan, ernest.
practically all his works (the index names nineteen).
renouf, peter lepage.
the condemnation of pope honorius.
richardson, samuel.
pamela, or virtue rewarded.
robertson, wm.
the history of the reign of the emperor charles v.
67rohling, august.
the kingdom of the future. (der zukunftsstaat.)
roscoe, william.
the life and pontificate of leo x.
rosmini-serbati, antonio.
the constitution according to social justice.
of the five wounds of holy church.
rousseau, jean-jacques.
emile, or about education.
the social contract.
letter to christopher de beaumont, archbishop of paris.
letters written from a mountain.
julia, or the new helo?se.
sabatier, paul.
life of st. francis of assisi.
saintyves, p.
the intellectual reform of the clergy and the freedom of education.
the saints as successors of the gods.
miracles and historical criticism.
miracles and scientific criticism.
sand, george (pseudonym).
all novels.
68schell, hermann.
catholic dogma (katholische dogmatik).
catholicism as a principle of progress.
the divine truth of christianity.
the new time and the old faith.
seymour, michael h.
a pilgrimage to rome.
soulié, frédéric.
all novels.
stendhal, h.b. de.
all novels.
sterne, laurence.
a sentimental journey.
strauss, david f.
the life of christ.
stroud, william.
treatise on the physical cause of the death of christ.
sue, eugène.
all novels.
taine, h.-a.
a history of english literature.
tolstoy, dmitry.
roman catholicism in russia.
69vericour, l.r. de.
historical analysis of christian civilization.
viollet, paul.
the infallibility of the pope and the syllabus.
vogrinec, anton.
nostra maxima culpa (our greatest fault).
voltaire, f.-m. arouet.
practically all his works.
whateley, richard.
elements of logic.
white, thomas.
all works.
wiese, sigismund.
jesus (drama).
zola, emile.
all works.
