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23). Before the Constitution "Sapienti consilio"
(29 June, 1908) came into force, the Congregation of
Propaganda had jurisdiction over several countries
in which normal CathoUc hierarchies of the Latin
Rite were estabhshed, but the Constitution adopted,
in general, the plan of leaving to Propaganda only
those countries or districts (excepting for the Orien-
tal rites mentioned below) where ecclesiastical au-
thority is vested in vicars or prefects Apostohc.
Thus, Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Hol-
land, and the Duchy of Luxemburg were removed
from the jurisdiction of Propaganda, although, as an
exception to the general rule, Australia, where a nor-
mal hierarchy exists, was allowed to remain under
that jurisdiction. Besides its territorial jurisdiction,
however, the congregation is invested with a personal
jurisdiction over the spiritual affairs of all Catholics,
in any part of the world, who belong to any of the
Oriental rites. (A fuU account of the history,
scope, methods, and work of this congregation will be
found in the separate article Propaganda, Sacred
Congregation of.)
VII. Congregation of the Index. — There has always been felt in the Church, especially since the invention of printing, the necessity of preventing the faithful from reading books that might ruin either faith or morals. As early as 1501 a Constitution of Alexander VI, addressed to the four ecclesiastical provinces of Germany, contains very wise prescrip- tions, later confirmed and extended to the whole world by Leo X in the Fifth Council of the Lateran (1515). In keeping with these laws, catalogues of the books prohibited were published by private enter- prise, and sometimes with ecclesiastical authority, not, however, the supreme authority of the Church. Among these mention should be made of the three of Louvain, 154() (approved by the emperor and pub- hshed by the university), 1550, and 1558; that of Spain; that of Paris, puhlislied by the Sorbonne in 1542; that of Cologne, ])ublish(Hl by the university in 1549; that of Venice, {)ublislied by Casa, the Apos- tolic nuncio, in 1549, and another, publi.shed in 1554 by the Inquisition; that of Florence, 1552, also pub- lished by the Inquisition; that of Milan, published in 1554 by the archbishop.
The custom of forming these indexes having been established (the catalogues being sometimes arranged alphabetically) there soon asserted itself the necessity for a general index under the supreme authority of the Church, and Paul IV commissioned the Holy Office to prepare such an index, which was accord- ingly published in 1557, and again, more accurately, in 1559. Later appeared the Tridentine Index, so called because its publication was ordered by the great council. It was approved and published by Pius IV in 1564. This index was often reprinted, always with new additions, and it is now followed, having been modified and corrected by Leo XIII who, in 1900, pubhshed it with his Constitution "Officiorum ac munerum", in which he abolished the old laws and established new ones for the condemna- tion and for the preliminary censure of books.
In 1571 Pius V created the Congregation for the Reform of the Index and for the Correction of Books (de reformando indice et corrigendis lihris). In the following year Gregory XIV gave a better form to this congregation, which Sixtus V confirmed by his Constitution "Immensa". It retains its primitive organization to the present day, the Constitution of Pius X having introduced no notable alterations. Like all the other congregations it consists of a number of cardinals, one of whom is its prefect; the master of the Sacred Palace (a Dominican) is ex officio its assistant. Pius V, by a Motu Proprio of 1570, had already amply authorized that functionary to correct pubhshed books. Another Dominican is the secretary of the Congregation of the Index,
which has a college of consultors whose oflSce is to
deliver written opinions on the books submitted to
their judgment by the congregation. The Congrega-
tion of the Index censures and condemns books which
it considers dangerous to faith or morals. Its juris-
diction is universal, extending to all Catholics. It
can therefore grant permission for the reading of a
book that has been condemned, or for the pubhca-
tion of corrected editions of books that have been
proscribed. Its functions are naturally related to
those of the Holy Office, of which it may with some
reason be considered an appendix or auxihary con-
gregation. The Constitution of Pius X provides
that, notwithstanding the strict secrecy to which the
oflScers of both congregations are held, thej' may
communicate to each other, upon occasion, those
proceedings which relate to the prohibition of books,
though they may communicate nothing else. One
change made by Pius X in the functions of this con-
gregation considerably widens the scope of its activi-
ties: the traditional rule was that the Index did not
condemn any book which had not been denounced
to it; now, on the contrary, the congregation is
charged with the work of seeking out pernicious pub-
lications, and, after mature examination, condemning
and proscribing them.
The procedure of the congregation was accurately determined by an instruction of Clement VIII and by a Constitution (9 July, 1753) of Benedict XIV. The consultor or consultors selected for the examina- tion of a book to be judged, having made their writ- ten report, if it appears that the book should be con- demned, a preparatory congregation is held, which consists of the Master of the Sacred Palace, the Sec- retary of the Index, and six consultors, versed in the matter of which the book treats and selected by the cardinal prefect. At this meeting, the passages of the publication of which complaint is made are diligently examined, and the question whether or not they contain errors is discussed. The secretary prepares an accurate report of the views of the pre- paratory congregation, and then refers it to the full congregation of the cardinals, at which the cause is carefully examined and final judgment is rendered. Benedict XIV required great consideration to be shown to any distinguished Catholic writer who en- joyed a good name. Not only did this pope pre- scribe that the work of such a writer should not be condemned without some formula calculated to miti- gate the severity of the condemnation, such as dotiec corrigatur, or donee expurgetur ("until it be corrected," "until it be expurgated"), but, he provided that the matter should first be referred to the author himself, and his attention called to the objectionable passages. If the author then refused to deal with the congre- gation, or rejected the corrections that were required, the decree of condemnation was to be published. If, however, the author prepared a new edition, the decree of condemnation was not to be pubhshed, unless a great number of the copies containing the errors had been circulated, in which case, of course, the public welfare would require the publication of the decree; but the pope provided that it should be made clear that only the first edition was comprised in the condemnation.
CoHELLius, op. cit.; Congr. X pro indice librorum prohibi- torum; Gretser, Dejure et more prohibendi expurgandi et abolendi libros hmreticos et noxios (Ingoldstadt, 1653); Raynaudus, Erotemata de malis ac bonis libris deque jusla aut injusta eorum confixione (Lyons, 1653) ; Lunadoro, op. cit., cap. ix, Delia congre- gazione dell' indice e del segretario della medesima; De Luca, Rel. ram. Curia: for., disc. 19; Francus, Disquisitio academica de papistarum indicibus librorum prohibendorum et expurgandorum (Leipzig, 1684) ; Ortlob, Diss. phil. de Ephesinorum libris curiosis combustis (Leipzig, 1708); Bokhmkr, Dissert, jurid. de jure circa libros improbalcB leclionis (Magdeburg, 1726); Schottoen, De indicibus librorum prohibit, et expurg. eorumque ncevis (DresdjSi, 1733); Ruble, Saggio deW istoria dell' indice romano (Rome, 1739); Catalani, De secretario S. Congregationis Indicia (Rome, 1751); ScHENEiDT, Jus et obligatio prohibendi libros (Wurzburg, 1768) ; Fritsch, Dissertationes de censura librorum et proposi'
