Approved Books

Q: How do I determine if a book has been approved by the Catholic Church?

There are many many books that have been written about the faith and that attempt to instruct souls on the faith or some aspect of it. Though the author may have good intentions, he or she may not be teaching in accord with the Church and there is always the danger of a Catholic being misled or misinformed. Such poses a danger to the soul in that it can lead to heresy or even apostasy. Therefore, as an aid to the faithful, the Church instituted a method by which a book is given a mark of approval so the Catholic reader may have confidence in the orthodoxy of the material he is reading. This mark of approval is called the Imprimatur. A book that has been reviewed and approved by valid Church authority is marked in the following way: Near the very beginning of the book, usually on the same page where one finds the copyright information, one will see the word "Imprimatur" followed by the name of a bishop and a date and a place, under it the words "Nihil Obstat" followed by the name of a bishop or priest, a place, and a date. "Imprimatur" is Latin for "it may be printed", and "nihil obstat" means "it is without error." The names refer to those who reviewed the book and approved it and on what dates and in what place they issued their approval. After the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat one may also find an explanatory paragraph, for example it may read: "The NIHIL OBSTAT and IMPRIMATUR are a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the NIHIL OBSTAT and IMPRIMATUR agree with contents, opinions or statements expressed."

Note: Every book meant to give doctrinal or spiritual instruction, including the Bible, the Catechism, the lives of the saints, etc. should have an IMPRIMATUR. If it does not do not read it, or at least do not read it with the intention of taking spiritual instruction from it. Many Catholic books are now available on the internet, often if it is a traditional text, there is an imprimatur attached to the book but it is not reproduced in the internet version. These internet books cannot be guaranteed as being free from error because the nature of electronic texts is that they can be easily edited by anyone without permission of the original author or publisher. It may be best for the faithful to stick to printed copies, but at the same time it is not necessary to be paranoid. Just keep in mind that if you are reading from the internet, if something doesn't seem right it probably isn't.