"Index Liborum Prohibitorum" was a list of books produced by the Vatican that any good Catholic should not read. It was discontinued in 1966. It included most of the works of Satre and Andre Gide, and certain works by Francis Bacon, Flaubert, scientific writing such as Galileo and Copernicus (presumably later amended once they realised the Earth did in fact go round the sun) and political work such as that of Jeremy Bentham among many others. However, "Mein Kampf" (1924) by Adolf Hitler was never banned, yet books were added to the list in the years following the publication of this book. Why was this book not banned?
Religion & Spirituality - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
History suggests there was an unsavory relationship between the Vatican and Berlin during WWII. The idea that they wouldn't include that book on their list adds to my suspicion.
2 :
Are you suggesting they should have banned it based on who the author was or what the book contained? Because I don't think you've read it, and I think you're saying that because it was a book Hitler wrote it should have been on there. Besides that, the Vatican had a very tenuous relationship with that era of Germany. The whole non-involvement during the Holocaust springs to mind.
3 :
>>What didn't the Vatican include "Mein Kampf" on their index of prohibited books?<< I'm curious how you know that, since "It has proved to be somewhat difficult to get a complete list of books included on the Index." (Modern History Sourcebook) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/indexlibrorum.html
4 :
Pope Pius XII was a friend of Hitler's when Pius was the Archbishop of Berlin before becoming Pope. The Pope never spoke out about what Hitler did during the entire period, including but not limited to, the Holocaust. Further, Jews were considered by the Church until Vatican Council II, 1960-1963, to be the people responsible for Jesus' death. I'm not surprised the Vatican didn't ban "Mein Kampf." How DO you know what books were banned on that list since it isn't easy to get?
5 :
You forgot that the Bible was also on that list of banned books! "Mein Kampf" was actually written by a Jesuit (Father Staempfle) so it doesn't surprise me that it would not be banned by the Vatican.
