a
list of books considered
dangerous to
Roman Catholic faith and
morals, first published by the
Roman Catholic Church in 496 A.D. It was titled
Index Librorum Prohibitorum (
Index of Forbidden Books) in 1559. The penalty assigned to Catholics for possessing, reading or
selling any of the books appearing in this
index was excommunication. This was based on the principle that Catholics should be forbidden, as a natural part of
ethics, to
read anything they know may endanger their faith or
moral life. The last edition of the
index appeared in 1948 and in 1966 the church announced that no new editions would be published and the existing
list was no longer binding. The penalty of excommunication was also
lifted and the
index was relegated to the status of a historic document.