The Roman Index of Forbidden Books (Betten)/Section I/Chapter 1
SECTION I
COMMENTARY
1. The Index.
In 1901, a reviewer of the Roman Index of Forbidden Books opened his criticism by congratulating himself upon 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." Owing to its scarcity, he thinks, the owner of the volume, which he had borrowed, must have paid at least two hundred dollars for it. He could have bought a brand 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 by B. Herder, St. Louis, Mo. So are the three later editions (1901, 1904, 1907), the last two issued under, and by order of, our gloriously reigning Pontiff, Pious X. When the critic felt his heart beat with joy upon being allowed to view with his own blessed eyes a book so rare, so expensive, and so jealously guarded by "the leaders of the Church," a whole edition of that same book had already been sold, and a second was about to be put on the market. Its title is now:
Index librorum prohibitorum, Leonis XIII Sum. Pont, auctoritate recognitus SS. D. N. Pii P. X iussu editus. Præmittuntur Constitutiones Apostolicæ de examine et prohibitione librorum. (Index of forbidden 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 the examination and prohibition of books.)
A glance at the neatly printed volume will disclose the reason why it is called "Index";—almost nine-tenths of it consists of a catalogue of books condemned by the Roman authorities. Of still greater importance than this catalogue 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 of Leo XIII, in which the Pontiff declares that this edition is to be the authentic one for the whole Church. It is to be binding on all the faithful of the universe, regardless of race or language, nationality or country, education, learning or station in life. In a preface headed "Lectori S.," the Secretary of the Roman "Congregatio Indicis" compares this edition of the "Index" with the former ones, points out the changes that were made, and explains the technical arrangement of the book.
After these preliminaries follow the "Constitutions." The first is the "Officiorum ac munerum" of Leo XIII, dated Jan. 25, 1897. This document recasts the whole legislation of the Church regarding the production, dissemination, reprinting and prohibition of such books as the Church may and must concern herself with. It abrogates all former laws and regulations of General Councils as well as of Sovereign Pontiffs, with one exception: the Constitution Sollicita ac provida of Benedict XIV, also reprinted here, by which this great pope established or rather sanctioned a method the one still in use of examining and passing sentence on the books submitted to the Roman authorities.
These two Constitutions contain the entire general legislation of the Church on the head of books.
There is no "Index expurgatorius." If there were, it would consist of books condemned conditionally, donec corrigantur, "until amended." But such books are all entered in the ordinary Index, with those two Latin words added. In Pope Leo's edition they are, besides, marked with an asterisk.