Page:The Roman index of forbidden books.djvu/51

Rh bound by the ecclesiastical laws regarding books. By asking for a dispensation we implicitly acknowledge and approve of the official position of the Church on the subject of wicked books, and, so far as in us lies, ratify and sanction the reasons which lead to their condemnation.

You say you are a good Catholic, and therefore this law does not bind you. Are there any commandments of the Church that bind only bad Catholics?

"I am told that a transgression of the Index law is a mortal sin. Can it be true that the Church, the kindest of mothers, should load us down with such a severe obligation?"

According to the theologians, the reading of a forbidden book, or part of it, is a mortal sin. (See p. 51, Rule 1.) The selection of the books on which our souls feed is a matter of no small importance. True, the Church is the kindest of mothers; but she is also the wisest. To direct the consciences of her children and "to restrain them from