List of Prohibited Books

GSMCOC has reinstated the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) maintained by the Catholic Church from 1559 until 1966.

The aim of the list was to protect the faith and morals of the faithful by preventing the reading of immoral or works containing theological errors. The various editions of the Index also contained the rules of the Church relating to the reading, selling and pre-emptive censorship of books, including translations of the Bible into the "common tongues". To avoid future situations rules should be made available to all members of GSMCOC.

Canon law still recommends that works concerning sacred Scripture, theology, canon law, church history, and any writings which specially concern religion or good morals, be submitted to the judgment of the local Ordinary an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws.

Such officers are found in hierarchically organized churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system. In the Episcopal Church, an ordinary is a diocesan bishop. In Eastern Christianity, a corresponding officer is called a hierarch "president of sacred rites, high-priest." With such a list in place the GSMCOC ordinary needs to be identified.

Within civic governance, notably in the southern United States, the role of the county ordinary historically involved the discharge of certain, often legal or legally related, tasks falling to city or county authorities, such as licensing marriages and adjudicating claims against an authority.