Article 1

All books which, before the year 1600, either the Supreme Pontiffs or Ecumenical Councils condemned, and which are not listed in the new Index, are to be held condemned in the same way as they were formerly condemned, excepting those which are permitted by these General Decrees.

Force of the article

65. 1. This article looks to this: that, after the distinct enumeration has now been suppressed, it may in a general way confirm the apostolic decrees or Roman Indexes by which works were condemned before the year 1600, yet excepting works which are permitted by the present General Decrees.

You can scarcely draw so broad a signification from the words of article 1. For those Indexes consist in great part of books proscribed by the Sacred Congregation, which cannot strictly be said to have been condemned by the Supreme Pontiff. But the Preface of the new Index (p. XIII) has manifested to us this mind of the Holy See, by which, therefore, one must stand.

Why the enumeration is omitted

But the reason why a distinct catalogue of those works is not repeated is that either it clearly appears that some General Decree falls upon them, or the works themselves are exceedingly rare and almost destroyed by oblivion (Hilgers, op. cit., pp. 105, 106). Therefore it was permissible, without harm, to relieve the new Index of these titles and names.

What is "in the same way"?

2. In the same way does not signify under the same penalties, since those penalties have been made much milder by the new law, but with the same force and extension of prohibition. It sounds almost the same as: no less than before.

Force of the exception

Certain works of non-Catholics

3. Excepting those which are permitted by these General Decrees. Hence it happens: a) that although before the year 1600 all works of authors, non-Catholic authors, who were placed in the first of the three classes then distinguished, were prohibited,¹ nevertheless now only those are condemned which expressly treat religion² or fall under the prohibition of some other General Decree.

Catholic writers

b) That Catholic authors whose names were undeservedly placed among heretics are no longer to be thought condemned.

These mitigations are brought by articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution Officiorum.

Works condemned by name

c) That even works condemned by name before 1600 are judged permitted, unless they are prohibited by a General Decree of the present Constitution. Father Hilgers³ defends this as likely and safe.

General conclusion

Therefore it can be said that, concerning books condemned before 1600, judgment is to be made according to the General Decrees of the present Constitution, but that those which were named in the Indexes are presumed prohibited.

At the same time we know that the former reprobations of editions and versions of the Sacred Bibles, and of obscene works, are mitigated according to the norm of articles 5, 6, 8, and 10.

¹ The first class condemned writers, all of whose works were thereby proscribed; the second class, works of a named writer; the third, "anonymous" works.

² Nor are these very works condemned if it is established that nothing is contained in them against the Catholic faith.

³ Der Index, p. 196.