Does an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat ever expire?

[Johann_du_Toit]

Does the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat granted by the Church for religious documents, such as Bible Translations, ever expire, such as when the Church official who granted it passes away (such as with the death of Cardinal John Heenan, the Late Archbishop of Westminster, who gave the Nihil Obstat for the Jerusalem Bible)? Or does it remain valid until the Vatican specifically says otherwise?

I know it can be revoked (i.e the Church revoked the imprimatur for the French Translation of the French translation of the Christian Community Bible because they uncovered texts that supposedly supported antisemitism).

 

[Usige]

Since an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat are indications that a work is free of doctrinal error and doctrine doesn’t change there would be no reason for them to expire. So a work written in the 19th century with an Imprimatur would be valid today unless it had been revoked.

That being said, doctrine can be refined so one must understand the time in which the work was published. The core of the doctrinal teaching would be correct even though our understanding of that doctrine might be better focused with a further 150 years of study.

One other thing is that some will point out that a part of an older work is not congruent with modern understanding in areas like gender roles, modesty, etc. It’s important to understand that Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat only relate to the doctrinal content not every thought expressed in a work. For example a book written about modesty might have an Imprimatur and talk about not showing ones ankles. This simply mean that what is expressed does not violate Catholic doctrine, it does not define doctrine though.

 

[R_H_Benson]

If it was true in the past, it remains true today and in the future.