The End of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum: 4000 Banned Books and Their Stories

In 1948, the Catholic Church published the final 32nd edition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a 508-page catalog that, since its first edition in 1559, listed nearly 4000 books banned for heresy, moral deficiency, sexual explicitness, political incorrectness, and more. Notable figures like Erasmus, Voltaire, and Sartre were included, alongside philosophers who believed in God, such as Descartes and Kant. Primarily intended for priests, this index reflects the Church's long history of controlling ideas and restricting intellectual freedom.