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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Nihil obstat?	Roland	Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Question: Dear Brother! Many thanks for answering my questions! I am praying for your health and that you can continue your great service to our Church! You are very right about the `difficulty of being a profet in your own family`. It is good to know that this a common difficulty. My sister has always missed belonging to a good community or having someone as a spiritual guide. Just makes me remember how big of a Grace this is for all of us who have had this gift for most our life. I have been reading many of the answers/questions in this forum, and it seems like many of the confusion is rooted in this need. The lack of strong catholic communities and people who are able to guide and answer questions of faith. What you are doing is a truly amazing gift of God! We need this so much! Are Church Authorities ready to support these efforts even more? Do they recognize the significance of this service? In some ways, it is good that Europe (eg. Hungary) faces somewhat later all the difficulties that you already have in the US. It seems like resources of the Church are very limited (although they are of course not). Battles are fought for political and economic support of the Church, while many battles for souls are neglected. You mentioned in one of your posts that you are not a priest yourself. Are you allowed to take the role of a `Lector` and label publications `Nihil obstat` or `Imprimatur`. I know little about these categories. I only know that they express that these books are in line with the teaching of the Catholic Church, and truly miss that very few books have them any more. Why is this? Are these authorities somehow connected with the priesthood or being a bishop? Would this not be a great opportunity to involve those who are not called to become priests? What can be known about this? Thank you Brother Ignatius, Roland
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Roland: Thanks for your prayers and support of this ministry. It is greatly appreciated and sorry for the delay in answering. As for the question of Church authorities supporting apologetics efforts, some do and some do not (in terms of apologetics that is orthodox). There are many good apologetics ministries on the Internet and off the Internet. Apologetics apostolates per se do not need the official recognition of a bishop; canon law allows laity to participate in these sorts of activities without the specific recognition from the bishops (though it is always nice to have such recognition). A Lector is a reader of Scripture during Mass. Lectors are usually laity these days. The certification of publications (Nihil obstat or Imprimatur) is done by the Bishop and his delegates. The Nihil obstat is given by a priest assigned by the Bishop to review the book to see if there is anything contrary to the faith contained in it. Nihil obstat means "nothing stand in the way" (the book is okay for publication). The Bishop then grants an Imprimatur which means, "let it be printed." The reason that most books today do not have an Imprimatur is because it is no longer required unless the book is to be used as textbooks Catholic Schools and parishes and such. This does not mean that books without an Imprimatur are not consistent with Catholicism. Even with an Imprimatur, the certification is only as good as the Bishop who gives it. It is possible for a bishop to give certification to a book that is not fully consistent with Catholicism or only technically consistent but contains watered down theology that could confuse the faithful. There is also the case of a book given an Imprimatur but later having that Imprimatur revoked. The problems there is that the books already published will contain an Imprimatur that no longer is valid. Bottomline, is that we should not "absolutely" rely upon an Imprimatur "guaranteeing" orthodoxy. A little more research should be done to check out the book for orthodoxy to make sure the Imprimatur has not been revoked, for example. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Nihil obstat?

Roland

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Question:

Dear Brother!

Many thanks for answering my questions! I am praying for your health and that you can continue your great service to our Church!

You are very right about the `difficulty of being a profet in your own family`. It is good to know that this a common difficulty. My sister has always missed belonging to a good community or having someone as a spiritual guide. Just makes me remember how big of a Grace this is for all of us who have had this gift for most our life.

I have been reading many of the answers/questions in this forum, and it seems like many of the confusion is rooted in this need. The lack of strong catholic communities and people who are able to guide and answer questions of faith. What you are doing is a truly amazing gift of God! We need this so much!

Are Church Authorities ready to support these efforts even more? Do they recognize the significance of this service?

In some ways, it is good that Europe (eg. Hungary) faces somewhat later all the difficulties that you already have in the US.
It seems like resources of the Church are very limited (although they are of course not). Battles are fought for political and economic support of the Church, while many battles for souls are neglected.

You mentioned in one of your posts that you are not a priest yourself. Are you allowed to take the role of a `Lector` and
label publications `Nihil obstat` or `Imprimatur`. I know little about these categories. I only know that they express that these books are in line with the teaching of the Catholic Church, and truly miss that very few books have them any more. Why is this?

Are these authorities somehow connected with the priesthood or being a bishop? Would this not be a great opportunity to involve those who are not called to become priests? What can be known about this?

Thank you Brother Ignatius,
Roland

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Roland:

Thanks for your prayers and support of this ministry. It is greatly appreciated and sorry for the delay in answering.

As for the question of Church authorities supporting apologetics efforts, some do and some do not (in terms of apologetics that is orthodox).

There are many good apologetics ministries on the Internet and off the Internet. Apologetics apostolates per se do not need the official recognition of a bishop; canon law allows laity to participate in these sorts of activities without the specific recognition from the bishops (though it is always nice to have such recognition).

A Lector is a reader of Scripture during Mass. Lectors are usually laity these days.

The certification of publications (Nihil obstat or Imprimatur) is done by the Bishop and his delegates. The Nihil obstat is given by a priest assigned by the Bishop to review the book to see if there is anything contrary to the faith contained in it. Nihil obstat means "nothing stand in the way" (the book is okay for publication). The Bishop then grants an Imprimatur which means, "let it be printed."

The reason that most books today do not have an Imprimatur is because it is no longer required unless the book is to be used as textbooks Catholic Schools and parishes and such. This does not mean that books without an Imprimatur are not consistent with Catholicism. Even with an Imprimatur, the certification is only as good as the Bishop who gives it. It is possible for a bishop to give certification to a book that is not fully consistent with Catholicism or only technically consistent but contains watered down theology that could confuse the faithful. There is also the case of a book given an Imprimatur but later having that Imprimatur revoked. The problems there is that the books already published will contain an Imprimatur that no longer is valid.

Bottomline, is that we should not "absolutely" rely upon an Imprimatur "guaranteeing" orthodoxy. A little more research should be done to check out the book for orthodoxy to make sure the Imprimatur has not been revoked, for example.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.