Index of Forbidden Books, commonly called the Index, was a list of books that the Roman Catholic Church once forbade its members to read without special permission. The church considered the books harmful to faith or morals.
The church abolished the Index in 1966 and no longer publishes lists of forbidden books. Occasionally, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issues statements about recent books that it does not recommend for Roman Catholics. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the arm of the church that examines questions of doctrine (church teachings) and theology (the study and description of god).
Pope Paul IV drew up the church’s first official list of prohibited books in 1559. He forbade Catholics to read any titles that he named. The Congregation of the Index was organized in 1571 to supervise the Index. The Congregation of the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) took over the function in 1917. The Index was revised more than 40 times before it was abolished.
