Index of Forbidden Books

Index of Forbidden Books, catalog formerly published by the Roman Catholic church that listed books considered dangerous to faith and morals. Catholics were forbidden under penalty of excommunication to possess, read, sell, or transmit any literature listed on the index without first obtaining ecclesiastical dispensation. Although the Christian church from earliest times had issued decrees and edicts banning literature it deemed doctrinally or morally objectionable, the first compilation officially to bear the name Index of Forbidden Books was published in 1559 during the papacy of Pope Paul IV. The last edition of the index was published in 1948. The church announced in 1966 that no new editions would be published and that the existing list was not binding. The penalty of excommunication for reading listed books was lifted.