The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-07-18
The. | N ? R | MAT j R
WHAT 1T SIGNIFIES WHEN PRE-
FIXED TO BOOKS WRITTEN BY
EccLEsIAsTIcs OR CATHOLIC
AUTHORS.

AUTHORS.
Happily nowadays much more care
is taken than formerly, says the Lon.
don Universe, in submitting books
treating on religious subjects to the
judgment of the Bishop of the place
where they are to be published before
the printers proofs are finally passed
The doing SO has always been a
rule in the Catholic Church; the great
er strictness now observable is the
fruit mainly of the Bull Officiorum ct
Munerum February l, 1890 of Leo
Kill, and of the Constitution Pascendi
September s, 1900 issued by the
present Holy Father.
Two classes of books are subject to
this previous eXamination:-D All
works of whatsoever nature written
by Ecclesiastics. (2) Works written
by the laity, if they treat of Holy
Scripture, Theology, Church History,
Canon Law, Natural Theology, Eth
les, or in general matters bearing on
Faith or Morals
Then, priest may not edit news
paper without leave of his Bishop, and
Bishop should see that the atten-
ton of even lay editors of Catholic
journals, periodicals, ets., be drawn to
anything appearing in their columns
likely to be offensive or hurtful to
their Catholic readers.
To ensure the observance of the law
concerning books, it is enjoined that
those treating on religious and allied
matters have prominently printed in
them the words ''Nihil obstat" (There
is no reason, from the Ecclesiastical
point of view, why this book should be
forbidden signed by the Censor or
person appointed by the Bishop to
look over it. Further, the Bishop him.
self, or for him, his Vicar General,
must add and sign the technical word
"Imprimatur," meaning that he has
no reason for dissenting from the
view taken by the Censor he had de-
puted to examine the book.
1t must steadily be borne in mind
that Bishop assumes no responsible
ity for the contents of the book to
which he prefixes his "Imprimatur. /"
He simply states that he sees no rea-
son forbidding it to be published or
for withholding it from the average
instructed Catholic of his Diocese.
The word Imprimatur is taken to sig
Nifty: This book may be printed. p
Possibly, the Bishop himself and his
Censor, and, again the vast majority
of its future readers, may profoundly
disagree with the views put forward
by the author. That has nothing at
all to do with the liberty given to
Catholics to hear what the writer has
to say for himself and his opinions.
What the Censors may not pass are
denials or doubts cast upon the dog
mas Of the Faith or articles of uni
versal and approved belief, even if
not actually defined Rash theories,
novel statements likely to trouble pi-
Gus minds, assertions, disrespectful to
ecclesiastical authorities, and so
forth, are also subject to the censure
1t is hardly necessary to add that the
censor must refuse his "Nihil obstat"
to passages of immoral or suggestive
tendency. But he must on no account
allow himself to be Influenced by his
personal like or dislike of an author,
by considerations of nationality, by
any sort of party spirit, by his own
bias in favor of one opinion rather
than another, or by aught save the
authoritative teaching of the Church.
So little has "Nihil obstat" and
"Imprimatur" to do with formal &C.
clesiastical approval that some Bish-
ops prefer to formulate their permits
sion to print with mere Imprint po-
test" ct can be printed), lest anyone
think that they are in any way re-
sponsible for the contents of the book
officially submitted to them. Again,
it is expressly laid down that a Bishop
may quite properly disallow the circu-
lation in his Diocese of a book toll
Grated in another place or country,
for what may be harmful to some
may to others be innocuous. So, also,
an authoritative decision of the Holy
See may, as it were, cancel previous
Imprimaturs. Thus, If twenty years
ago pious writer should have main
tanned that daily Communion was not
to be counselled to all practicing
Catholics, a Bishop and his Censor
could not but have passed the book.
Now, on the contrary, the error hav-
ing been pointed out by the Holy See,
he would be bound to refuse his I'm
primatur to new edition till the
statement had been corrected. In the
Catholic Church liberty of thought and
expression is very great indeed. The
advantage we enjoy is that, though
perhaps sometimes venturing over
near to a precipice, there are certain
truths insisted upon, certain errors
clearly condemned, that are guiding
posts and barriers, set up to safeguard
us. The Bishop and his Censor have
the duty of warning us, if We stray
from the safe path or overlap the
line of posts and chains.
1t is necessary to add that officially
Censor has no concern with the lit
erary style of a book, nor with state
ments of fact or theory in matters of
history, science, or the like. Some
Censors, in making their report, char
itably call the writer's attention to
mistakes in grammar, spelling, dates,
and the like; but they have no obli-