Off the Index

In a Renaissance palace off St. Peter's Square, twelve Vatican-appointed "qualifiers" daily scrutinize books from all over the world. They confer regularly with 24 consultants, and if a book is found to be contrary to Catholic faith and morals, nine cardinals review their findings. Together, the three groups form the Holy Office's book-censoring department, and on their recommendation the Pope places works on the Index of Forbidden Books. So far, John XXIII has not Indexed any; Pius XII placed 23 authors on the list, including Jean Paul Sartre, Andre Gide and Alberto Moravia.

Started by Pope St. Gelasius in the 5th century, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum today generally condemns books on religion not approved by Catholic authorities and books "against faith and morals," including all Communist books. Specifically condemned are some 6,000 works by 4,000 authors (among them: Addison, Balzac, Dumas, father and son, Kant, Spinoza, Voltaire), which Catholics may not read without special permission.

Over the years such oldtime outlaws as Dante's De Monarchia and Arius' Thalia have been quietly removed from the Index. Last week the Congregation of the Holy Office took another step toward a possible reform of the Index: it allowed an Italian publisher to bring out an annotated version of Les Miserables.

Victor Hugo's novel went on the Index in 1864 under pressure from Napoleon III, who hoped to curtail the popularity of a book in which revolutionaries were honest and noble. Said one Vatican spokesman: "It occurred to us that, with doctrinally objectionable passages annotated, this essentially Christian book might do some good." The annotations appear in the form of footnotes. Thus Hugo, in chapter four, describes the bishop's doctrine: "Err, yield to temptation, sin, but be just!" Says a footnote: "A very easy and peaceable moral thesis which had nothing in common with Catholic doctrine." And in chapter seven, when the bishop debates whether to return stolen goods or hand them to the poor, a footnote warns that "the slogan 'the end justifies the means' is not admissible in a bishop or anyone else. By not returning the goods . . . the bishop becomes an accomplice."

Next in line for possible rehabilitation: Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame and Dumas' The Three Musketeers.

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