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Facts of Faith

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    Censorship of Books

    Those who write histories today have more source matter on ancient history, but less on medieval, than historians had four hundred years ago; for after the Reformation had fully aroused the papal church to action, her emissaries, especially the vigilant Jesuits, searched out and destroyed every evidence that was damaging to her. When Bishop Gilbert Burnet, D. D., prepared to write his “History of the English Reformation,” he became surprised, while searching among court records and public registers, to find so much missing, till he finally discovered the cause. He says:FAFA 252.5

    “In the search I made of the Rolls and other offices, I wondered much to miss several commissions, patents, and other writings, which by clear evidence I knew were granted, and yet none of them appeared on record.FAFA 252.6

    “But as I continued down my search to the fourth year of Queen Mary, I found in the twelfth roll of that year, a commission which cleared all my former doubts, and by which I saw what was become of the things I had so anxiously searched after. We have heard of the expurgation of books practiced in the Church of Rome; but it might have been imagined that public registers and records would have been safe. Yet lest these should have been afterwards confessors, it was resolved they should then be martyrs; for on the 29th of December, in the fourth year of her reign, a commission was issued out under the great seal to Bonner, Bishop of London, Cole, Dean of St. Paul’s, and Martine, a doctor of the civil law, [which commanded the destruction of] divers compts, books, scrolls, instruments....FAFA 253.1

    “When I saw this, I soon knew which way so many writings had gone.” — “History of the Reformation of the Church of England,” 2-vol. ed., Vol. I, Preface, p. xiii. London: 1880.FAFA 253.2

    Let no one, therefore, say that statements in older histories are not true because we cannot now find sources to prove them.FAFA 253.3

    The reader may not know that back of all this activity stands the Roman Curia. One department of which is the Sacred Congregation of the Index, which meets at Rome on stated days to decide what books are forbidden, and to make lists of them, called “The Index of Prohibited Books.” 24See “Romanism and the Republic.” by Isaac J. Lansing, pp. 221-223. Pope Benedict X on March 25 1917 transferred this work to the “Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office.” — “Index of Prohibited Books,” p. xxxi. The writer has examined two editions of this “Index,” one early edition, and their latest one of 1930 by Pope Pius XI. Some books are permanently forbidden, while others are forbidden until certain corrections are made in them, which explains the revisions of our schoolbooks, for the “Index” says:FAFA 253.4

    “Can. 1396. Books condemned by the Holy See are prohibited all over the world and in whatever language into which they may have been translated.FAFA 253.5

    “Can. 1397, Sec. 1. It is the duty of all the faithful, particularly of clerics, or those holding high positions and noted for their learning, to denounce any book, they may consider dangerous, to the local Ordinaries, or to the Holy See....FAFA 254.1

    “Sec. 3. Those to whom such denunciations are made are bound in conscience not to reveal the names of the accusers.FAFA 254.2

    “Sec. 4. Local Ordinaries, either directly themselves, or through the agency of capable priests, are in duty bound to keep a close watch on the books that are published, or sold, within their territory....FAFA 254.3

    “Can. 1398, Sec. 1. The condemnation of a book entails the prohibition, without especial permission, either to publish, to read, to keep, to sell, to translate it, or in any way to pass it on to others.FAFA 254.4

    “Sec. 2. A book which has been prohibited in any way may not be republished, unless, after the necessary corrections have been made.” — “Index,” of 1930, pp. xvi, xvii. Vatican Polyglot Press.FAFA 254.5

    The Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say about the “Censorship of Books“: “In general, censorship of books is a supervision of the press in order to prevent any abuse of it.FAFA 254.6

    “The reverse of censorship is freedom of the press.”-Vol. III, p. 519.FAFA 254.7

    This “supervision of the press” extends also to articles written in magazines and newspapers, and among the special organizations working in this field is the International Catholic Truth Society, and the Catholic International Associated Press. Reporting the Louisville federation convention of the latter, Michael Kenny, S. J., in America (a Jesuit weekly) for August 31, 1912, says of their Catholic Press Bureau:FAFA 254.8

    “We have it in our power to compel our papers, the thinking machines of the people, to tell the truth and refrain from transmitting slanders on Catholic matters. We can prevent the wells at which the people drink from being poisoned. We can, following the lead of the Austrian Catholic Congress, establish a Catholic International Associated Press, 25The Register (Roman Catholic), Denver. Colorado, April 3, 1938. announced the formation of the United Catholic Organisations’ Press Relations Committee to keep vigilant oversight over newspapers and magazines. and to accomplish this object every Catholic of the right spirit, reading in the daily papers calumnies of our religion and the most brazen justification of the robber bands who drive our religious from their homes and confiscate their property, should be willing to contribute a tithe of his possessions. All this and more can be accomplished by federated action.... Marching shoulder to shoulder with the spirit of soldiers on the battlefield at the call of the Church, we can successfully combat the organizations of her enemies and make this an era of Catholic manhood.” -“America,” August 31, 1912, p. 486, article by M. Kenny, S.J.FAFA 254.9

    As a result of this organized effort no newspapers in the United States will accept any news that reflects unfavorably on the Catholic Church or its propaganda in this country, while news unfavorable to Protestants is printed.FAFA 255.1

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