(1.) That the rule of the Index of the Council of Trent has never been
permitted to fall into abeyance, and has never been repealed. From the
time of its enactment it has always been, and now is, the binding law of
the Church of Rome. It has been constantly enforced by Papal authority,
and is especially commended to the careful attention of the faithful by
the authoritative letter of the present Pope.
(2.) That no Roman Catholic is permitted on any pretext to read, or to
possess a copy of the Bible in his own language, without a written order
from the Bishop or Inquisitor. It matters not who is the author of the
translation, whether Protestant or Romanist, whether Luther or the Pope
himself; if any man either possess or read it, for that offence he is cut
off from absolution and thereby from church communion.
(3.) That since the days of Benedict XIV. it has always been, and now
is, unlawful under any circumstances to read any version without notes.
God’s word is not allowed to speak for itself; man’s gloss must accompany
it; the truth is forbidden in its simplicity; they are afraid to allow
the people to read even their own version, without superadding extracts
from “other learned and Catholic authors.”
(4.) That these versions with their notes may not be possessed or read
unless they are first approved of by the Holy See. Query. How many
versions approved by the Pope exist in the whole world? Is there one in
England? It is of course difficult to prove a negative; but those who
are best acquainted with the subject assert that they have never been
able to discover one. See Venn’s Letter to Waterworth, Jan. 15, 1845.
(5.) That the Church of Rome attacks the broad principle of the general
usefulness of the Bible. The Pope does not merely discuss the
comparative merits of this or that version, but goes boldly to the great
question, whether the reading of the Bible is really useful for the
people. The Jansenists, according to his own account, asserted that the
reading of the holy books “had been at all times, and for all the
faithful, useful, and so indispensable that no authority could assail
it.” This he declares to be an audacious assertion, and pronounces it
withered by the unanimous condemnation of the whole Catholic universe.
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