Q. In the front pages of some Catholic books, I have seen the word imprimatur. What is an imprimatur?
A. Excellent question. It is the role of the Church to hand on doctrinal and moral teaching in an authentic manner without error.
We must remember that the Magisterium, the teaching authority of our Church, 2 Peter 3:15-16, Acts 8: 26 -31, Matthew 28:18-19, Luke 10:16, Romans 3:28, Matthew 16:18, has the duty to “preserve God’s people from deviations and defections, and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error” (Catechism, #890). Therefore, the Magisterium examines, among other things, catechetical works, particularly books, on faith and morals and pronounces whether they are free from doctrinal error.
An imprimatur is a declaration by a competent Catholic ecclesiastical authority, such as a bishop, that a book is free of theological or doctrinal error and is in keeping with Catholic Church teaching.
There is a process followed in arriving at an imprimatur. First, a person, sometimes a priest, is asked to read and review a book for moral and doctrinal content. This person is called the censor deputatus. If there is nothing objectionable in the work, he grants a nihil obstat attesting to this.
Nihil obstat is translated as “let nothing stand in the way.” The nihil obstat indicates that the manuscript can be safely forwarded to the bishop for his review and decision. If the work is found free of doctrinal error, then the bishop or major superior grants an imprimatur which is from the Latin imprimere, meaning to impress or to stamp an imprint, imprimatur translates, “let it be printed.”
This question was answered by a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
