0:13
Ever since its early days, the catholic church has taken up the cause of good against evil, of heaven against hell.
0:28
In the middle ages, this fight was waged with rather bloody means. Suspected witches were persecuted and burnt at the stake. Heretics were put on trial. In 1542 Pope Paul III initiated the Holy Inquisition, of which the sole purpose was to preserve the Truth from any other beliefsby all means necessary.
0:53
The history of the censorship of Catholic literature was less bloodstained but just as intolerant. In 1559, Pope Paul IV published the first Index Librorum Prohibitoruma list of banned books.
Authors who challenged the churchs monopoly on belief were relegated to the Index. Those who read, owned or printed such books were threatened with excommunication.
The Roman Index Congregation targeted all new publications. As soon as a book was viewed with suspicion in Rome, the Popes censors set themselves to work. Very few of them knew anything about literature. Millions of pages were filled by reports and files about supposedly dangerous books. The Pope had the last word.
1:45
OT Wolf: The Index was a tool used against the Reformation. Books were banned so that believers would not catch the dangerous protestant virus.
2:22
Hubert Wolf is a priest and teaches the history of the Church at the University of Münster. For several years, he has been researching about the roman inquisition in the archives of the Vatican. Sifting through the Index, his aim is to find out the reason why some publications were banned and not others.
2:37
Pope Benedict XVI is personally interested in this research. Before Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope, he was head of the Congregation of the Faith and used to be responsible for the censorship of books.
Roughly 5000 works have made the list in the past four centuries. Which books were suitable for reading by the congregation was decided for them. Freedom of the intellect was not much respected; most important was to defend the Churchs exclusive ownership of the truth with an iron fist.
Censorship didnt only target theology, it also applied to sciences, medicine and philosophy.
3:14
OT Wolf: Today no-one would mind people saying that murderers and thieves should be punished. Back then, keeping control of knowledge was just as natural. It was the uncontested duty of the church authorities. Criticism began with a new interest in understanding man and his rights. It really started with the assertation of human rights as was set out during the French Revolution.
3:42
The Church is against upheavals of any kind. Anyone who calls for a revolution quickly becomes the enemy of Catholic fundamentalists. A famous victim of their wrath was the poet Heinrich Heine. Ten of his works were banned because they were deemed revolutionary and against the Church. Even the pictures of his travels in the 1820s suffered this fate.
O.T. Wolf: In one of his books, Heine describes a hot summers day and how he fled from the heat into a cathedral. The following words were indexed by the censorship expert. Catholicism is a good summer religion. It is good to rest in those cool prayers, in this cool cathedral. A holy Dolce Farniente. This quote is enough of the expert to decide no-one should read the book, that it is religiously unsound, and what is more hes calling for a revolution.
4:41
Heinrich Heine, Immanuel Kant, Jean-Paul Sartre. The Vatican fights against revolutionary thinking. Yet many of the books which were submitted to examination didnt end up in the Index after all. Only recently has it become evident why.
In his later books, Karl May developed a philosophy about a unified religion. He was never threatened by censors because they dismissed his books as too boring. No one would read them.
They had long discussions over Hitlers Mein Kampf and a large file remains as proof of this. However, Pope Pius XI eventually spoke in its favour.
5:13
OT Wolf:I assume this may have resulted from the fact that Hitler was Reich Chancellor on the 30 January 1933 and was therefore the head of state. The Catholic view on this is explained in Romans, Chapter 13 verses 1 and 2 all state authority comes from God. Those who rebel against the state also rebel against God.
5:35
The last copy of the Index was published by the Vatican in 1945, but the black list only ceased to exist under Pope Paul VI in the late sixties. From then on, everything can be read without endangering the soul.
However, as a prime example of spiritual control, the Index continues to cast its shadow to this day. The Church has to live with the accusation that it stood in the way of literary and scientific progress.
Nowadays in Rome, the censorship of publications is studied from a historical perspective.
6:05
OT Gumpel: The censorship of books wasnt introduced by the Romans out of fear. It was meant to protect the faith of ordinary people. It was a time of confusion, a time when people took what they read at face value. So it made sense to tell them watch out some books are dangerous to your faith and your soul.
6:30
In the Palazzo del Sant'Ufficio, no book goes through censorship anymore. The role of the Congregation for the Faith is now restricted to the supervision of Catholic teaching. Considering the importance of the media today, attempts at censorship are now unthinkable.
OT Gumpel: The Catholic church still preserves the right to warn the public against certain books, for instance if they are pornograhic. But it happens freely, without punishment. We now have other options that werent available in the time of the Index.
7:12
Tolerance and love of ones kin are major Catholic values. Yet when the defence of its claim to truth is at stake, the Roman Catholic Church wont think twice: its truth is indivisible.
Ever since its early days, the catholic church has taken up the cause of good against evil, of heaven against hell.
0:28
In the middle ages, this fight was waged with rather bloody means. Suspected witches were persecuted and burnt at the stake. Heretics were put on trial. In 1542 Pope Paul III initiated the Holy Inquisition, of which the sole purpose was to preserve the Truth from any other beliefsby all means necessary.
0:53
The history of the censorship of Catholic literature was less bloodstained but just as intolerant. In 1559, Pope Paul IV published the first Index Librorum Prohibitoruma list of banned books.
Authors who challenged the churchs monopoly on belief were relegated to the Index. Those who read, owned or printed such books were threatened with excommunication.
The Roman Index Congregation targeted all new publications. As soon as a book was viewed with suspicion in Rome, the Popes censors set themselves to work. Very few of them knew anything about literature. Millions of pages were filled by reports and files about supposedly dangerous books. The Pope had the last word.
1:45
OT Wolf: The Index was a tool used against the Reformation. Books were banned so that believers would not catch the dangerous protestant virus.
2:22
Hubert Wolf is a priest and teaches the history of the Church at the University of Münster. For several years, he has been researching about the roman inquisition in the archives of the Vatican. Sifting through the Index, his aim is to find out the reason why some publications were banned and not others.
2:37
Pope Benedict XVI is personally interested in this research. Before Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope, he was head of the Congregation of the Faith and used to be responsible for the censorship of books.
Roughly 5000 works have made the list in the past four centuries. Which books were suitable for reading by the congregation was decided for them. Freedom of the intellect was not much respected; most important was to defend the Churchs exclusive ownership of the truth with an iron fist.
Censorship didnt only target theology, it also applied to sciences, medicine and philosophy.
3:14
OT Wolf: Today no-one would mind people saying that murderers and thieves should be punished. Back then, keeping control of knowledge was just as natural. It was the uncontested duty of the church authorities. Criticism began with a new interest in understanding man and his rights. It really started with the assertation of human rights as was set out during the French Revolution.
3:42
The Church is against upheavals of any kind. Anyone who calls for a revolution quickly becomes the enemy of Catholic fundamentalists. A famous victim of their wrath was the poet Heinrich Heine. Ten of his works were banned because they were deemed revolutionary and against the Church. Even the pictures of his travels in the 1820s suffered this fate.
O.T. Wolf: In one of his books, Heine describes a hot summers day and how he fled from the heat into a cathedral. The following words were indexed by the censorship expert. Catholicism is a good summer religion. It is good to rest in those cool prayers, in this cool cathedral. A holy Dolce Farniente. This quote is enough of the expert to decide no-one should read the book, that it is religiously unsound, and what is more hes calling for a revolution.
4:41
Heinrich Heine, Immanuel Kant, Jean-Paul Sartre. The Vatican fights against revolutionary thinking. Yet many of the books which were submitted to examination didnt end up in the Index after all. Only recently has it become evident why.
In his later books, Karl May developed a philosophy about a unified religion. He was never threatened by censors because they dismissed his books as too boring. No one would read them.
They had long discussions over Hitlers Mein Kampf and a large file remains as proof of this. However, Pope Pius XI eventually spoke in its favour.
5:13
OT Wolf:I assume this may have resulted from the fact that Hitler was Reich Chancellor on the 30 January 1933 and was therefore the head of state. The Catholic view on this is explained in Romans, Chapter 13 verses 1 and 2 all state authority comes from God. Those who rebel against the state also rebel against God.
5:35
The last copy of the Index was published by the Vatican in 1945, but the black list only ceased to exist under Pope Paul VI in the late sixties. From then on, everything can be read without endangering the soul.
However, as a prime example of spiritual control, the Index continues to cast its shadow to this day. The Church has to live with the accusation that it stood in the way of literary and scientific progress.
Nowadays in Rome, the censorship of publications is studied from a historical perspective.
6:05
OT Gumpel: The censorship of books wasnt introduced by the Romans out of fear. It was meant to protect the faith of ordinary people. It was a time of confusion, a time when people took what they read at face value. So it made sense to tell them watch out some books are dangerous to your faith and your soul.
6:30
In the Palazzo del Sant'Ufficio, no book goes through censorship anymore. The role of the Congregation for the Faith is now restricted to the supervision of Catholic teaching. Considering the importance of the media today, attempts at censorship are now unthinkable.
OT Gumpel: The Catholic church still preserves the right to warn the public against certain books, for instance if they are pornograhic. But it happens freely, without punishment. We now have other options that werent available in the time of the Index.
7:12
Tolerance and love of ones kin are major Catholic values. Yet when the defence of its claim to truth is at stake, the Roman Catholic Church wont think twice: its truth is indivisible.