A Book Against Books -BY AWAKE! WRITER IN ITALY

What Kind of Books Forbidden?

The Index was divided into three "classes."  The first listed authors, all of whose books were prohibited whatever the subject matter.  The second listed the titles of single prohibited works by authors who otherwise were not condemned. And the third prohibited a long list of anonymous works.  That Index contained 1,107 censures, affecting writers not only of religious  subjects but also of other types of literature. An appendix listed prohibited editions of the Bible, specifying that all translations in common tongues were forbidden.  

Although local bans had previously been in effect "with all these provisions affecting all of Catholicism, the church made its first official pronouncement against printing, reading, and possessing the Holy Book in the vernacular," according to Gigliola Fragnito, a  teacher of modern history at the University of Parma, Italy.  The Index was violently opposed as much by booksellers and editors as by governments, which benefited from printing.  For these and other reasons, a new edition was ordered and was published in 1564, after the Council of Trent. 

A Congregation of the Index was specially created in 1571 to care for its revision. At one time as many as three entities decided which works to ban-The Congregation of the Holy Office, the Congregation of the Index, and the master of the sacred palace, a papal dignitary. Overlapping responsibilities and differences of opinion concerning whether more power should be given to bishops or to local inquisitors were among the reasons for delay in publication of the third catalog of forbidden books. Prepared by Congregation of the Index and promulgated by Clement VIII in March 1596, the Index was blocked at the request of the Holy Office until such time as it was made more peremptory in banning all Bible reading int he tongues of common people.  

Next time: A Book Against Books -BY AWAKE! WRITER IN ITALY/Conclusion of What Kind of Books Forbidden?

From the Awake! magazine