Errors in Official Books

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Senyorico

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Is it possible that published Catholic books with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur consist of doctrinal error? e.g. A book published by a priest states that “Priests” are our spiritual father while other publications say otherwise. Thank you!
 
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Mistakes can happen.

For example, the first printing of the so-called Eucharistic Prayer IV contained the doctrinal heresy, “Pater, tu solus es Deus.” That made it into an officially published book. Arius would have been proud!

The book was, needless to say, hastily corrected.

(This sort of thing happens with committee-produced liturgies, but I digress).
 
Senyorico said:
Is it possible that published Catholic books with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur consist of doctrinal error? e.g. A book published by a priest states that “Priests” are our spiritual father while other publications say otherwise. Thank you!
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Priests are addressed with the title father and act in persona Christi Capitis.
 
While errors can occur and, if serious, are corrected, usually when you find two books with Nihil Obstat/ Imprimatur disagreeing on something, it’s something on which the Church has not taken a definitive position. An example would be whether Purgatory is painful or just a place of learning. We honestly don’t know either way so you can find books with Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur that say it’s painful being in a lot of flames, and others that say it’s not painful and God just nicely teaches you what you need to know.

However, the example you gave about priests being spiritual fathers isn’t controversial at all. Of course priests can be our spiritual fathers. I’d be more concerned about the book that claimed otherwise.
 
The 1980s book “Christ Among Us” contained doctrinal error. The Vatican required changes.

Keep in mind the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat do not equate to an endorsement by the Church.
 
Yes and this isn’t magic. Just because you’re a diocesan censor librorum doesn’t mean you are immune from error.
 
KMG said:
Yes and this isn’t magic. Just because you’re a diocesan censor librorum doesn’t mean you are immune from error.
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Well, I would say the Imprimatur system is effective 99 percent of the time. Just consider it a necessary but not sufficient screening.

For instance, if a religion book says abortion is acceptable, it won’t get an Imprimatur. But many books hem and haw, sort of imply prolife is less important for social justice than proper recycling, etc. If a book denies the Trinity, it won’t get Imprimatur. If it indirectly treats the Trinity as less relevant for faith than Global Warming, it might.
 
Thanks! But there’s a Catholic Book that says we worship saints and their relics, and I was very alarmed because of the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur
 
While it is not correct to say we “worship” saints, sometimes Catholics writing for other Catholics are not careful about the use of the appropriate words.

It could also be an error that wasn’t caught, of course.
 
The term “worship” once had a broader meaning. I think in England they may refer to judges as Your Worship. In the U S court petitions use language such as We pray the Court to grant …

The older meaning might use “worship” in that larger sense, to attribute worth to.
Thus, we attribute “worth” to angels and saints. We attribute higher worth to Mary, and the fullness of worth - divinity - to God Alone.

It might seem more devout to restrict our language to God alone. But I think the current trend to reduce the importance of Mary and saints, and abolish angels all together, reflects a mentality that God is only a little more important than Me. There’s no room for intermediaries or intercessors.

Catholics, and Protestants, attribute “worth” to the flag for instance. Relics can be considered in the same category. When was the Imprimatur issued? Was the book originally written in English, or is this a translation?
 
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