Pope Clement VIII — Cum Hebraeorum Malitia: Against Hebrews Who Possess or Read the Books of the Talmud and Others Hitherto Condemned, or Which Contain Blasphemies and Insults Against God and the Saints (1593 AD)
Since the malice of the Hebrews contrives new frauds daily by which to bring into the open pernicious volumes and impious and plainly detestable books, condemned from antiquity and recently composed —
§ 1. Following the example of many predecessor popes, Clement approves all prior condemnations of the Talmud and forbidden books
We, deeming it pernicious to them and dangerous to the Christian people to tolerate this their wickedness with conniving eyes, and wishing in accordance with our pastoral duty to apply a timely remedy to this evil, led by the example of very many Roman Pontiff predecessors of ours — especially Gregory IX, Innocent IV, Clement IV, Honorius IV, John XXII, Julius III, Paul IV, and Gregory XIII — who very often condemned that impious work called the Talmud and other similar reprobate and detestable writings and volumes, and forbade them to be retained, or otherwise from pious zeal exterminated them from the provinces and kingdoms of the Christian world — approving and renewing all and each of those same predecessors’ letters issued on this matter, whose tenors we wish to be held as expressed in these presents:
§ 2. All Jewish communities everywhere perpetually forbidden to possess Talmudic and other condemned books
And adding to those prior condemnations, we perpetually forbid all and whatever communities of Hebrews and their individuals, both within the temporal dominion of the Holy Roman Church and outside it wherever they are in whatever parts of the Christian world, to dare or presume to keep, guard, read, or use, buy or sell, or publish in any way whatever impious Talmudic books so often condemned, whatever most vain, cabalistic, and other wicked books prohibited and condemned by our predecessors, as well as works, commentaries, treatises, volumes, and writings whatsoever — in the Hebrew language as well as in any other language — hitherto composed or translated, edited and printed, and to be composed, translated, edited, or printed hereafter — containing or including, tacitly or expressly, heresies or errors contrary to the sacred scriptures of the Old Law and Testament, as well as insults, impieties, and blasphemies against God, the most holy Trinity, and our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, His holy Christian faith, the most blessed ever-Virgin Mary His Mother, the holy angels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and other saints of God, the most holy Cross, the sacraments of the new law, the sacred images, and the holy Catholic Church and Apostolic See, and against the faithful of Christ, especially bishops, priests, and other ecclesiastical persons, and also against those recently converted to the faith of Christ, and neophytes, and otherwise against the Catholic religion — even under pretext that they have been expurgated, until they shall have been expurgated; or that they have been newly printed with the names changed; or even under color of any tolerance or permission, as they pretend, of the secretary of some person of the sacred Council of Trent, or of the Index of forbidden books edited by Pius Pope IV our predecessor, or of any apostolic indult or license from Holy Roman Church cardinals, even legates, or from the Camerarius or Apostolic Chamber, or from nuncios even with the power of a legate, or from local Ordinaries or inquisitors of heretical wickedness, however perchance granted in any way, or by any other sought pretext.
§ 3–4. All prior licenses and tolerances revoked; no further licenses to be granted
All and whatever faculties, letters, permissions, indults, tolerances for reading, retaining — even for a fixed or indefinite time — or other pretexts whatsoever, as aforesaid, for prohibited writings, volumes, books, and other aforesaid things, granted in any way to whatever Jews, in general or in particular, by our predecessors and the said Apostolic See or its legates, even a latere or nuncios or inquisitors of heretical wickedness, or local Ordinaries or any others wielding any dignity or authority, even Holy Roman Church cardinals and its aforesaid Camerarius, under whatever verbal forms and conceptions, and with whatever even most derogatory derogatory clauses and force-inducing and irritating decrees, even by motu proprio and certain knowledge, and of the fullness of apostolic power, or at the instance of whatever princes, even royal, ducal, or of any other preeminence — by the authority and tenor aforesaid we revoke, make void, and annul, and wish them to be and to be held perpetually revoked, void, and wholly null. Strictly forbidding, both whatever of the aforesaid persons of whatever authority and faculty supported from granting such licenses, tolerances, or indults in any way, and Jews from daring to use those that have been thus revoked by these presents, or those perchance to be granted de facto hereafter, or under their pretext or otherwise in any way to retain, read, carry, buy, sell, or newly publish the aforesaid books.
§ 5. Books to be surrendered to inquisitors within ten days in Rome, two months elsewhere; to be burned without further mandate
Indeed if they have any at present, they shall be altogether bound and required to exhibit, deliver, and surrender them, within ten days in Rome at the office of the Holy Roman and universal Inquisition; but outside the City, within two months to be counted from the day of the publication of these presents, to the local Ordinaries or inquisitors of heretical wickedness — by whom afterwards, without any other mandate of ours and without any interposed delay, they shall be burned.
§ 6–7. Heavy penalties: loss of books and goods; excommunication for Christians who help Jews obtain or keep such books
Commanding both the Jews themselves and whatever printers, booksellers, or merchants and all others, even whatever Christians of any state, grade, order, or condition, under the penalties of loss of the books and confiscation of all goods — to be applied to the treasury of the prince in whose dominion the books shall have been found — and other even more grievous bodily afflictive penalties to be established and moderated at the discretion of the diocesan and also the inquisitor if there be one; and also, concerning Christians, even of major excommunication incurred by the very fact by each individual transgressor, not to retain, have, read, carry, buy, sell, newly publish, print or impress, transcribe or copy, bring in, purchase, give, exchange, or otherwise in any way dispose of or alienate the books and other writings prohibited above as aforesaid.
Nor let anyone, even under the aforesaid and other penalties against those who abet apostates from the faith and heretics inflicted by the sacred canons and apostolic constitutions, dare to furnish or extend to those Hebrews any aid, counsel, assistance, or favor in any way for having, writing, or printing such books, or for bringing or transporting them from wherever, or for hereafter obtaining a license to read them.
§ 8. All inquisitors and local Ordinaries throughout the world deputized to search synagogues and houses and proceed against violators
Wherefore we mandate through apostolic writings our venerable brothers, as well as Holy Roman Church cardinals who are general inquisitors against heretical wickedness throughout the whole world, as also patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, and other local Ordinaries and whatever inquisitors of that same heretical wickedness in whatever kingdoms, provinces, and cities existing for the time being, that they and each of them, in the cities, lands, and places where Jews dwell, both in their synagogues and public places as well as in private houses or workshops and elsewhere everywhere — also at Christian booksellers — most diligently search for such prohibited books and writings through themselves or another or others to be deputed by them, and proceed against those who shall have been found culpable in retaining them to the execution of the aforesaid and other more grave penalties at their discretion.
Given at Rome, at Saint Peter’s, in the year of the Lord’s Incarnation 1593, on the fifth day before the Kalends of March, in the second year of our pontificate.
Dated February 25, 1593; pontificate year 2.
Source. Bullarium Romanum, Taurinensis Edition, Vol. X, pp. 25–28. Pope Clement VIII, Cum Hebraeorum Malitia, against Hebrews retaining or reading the Talmud and other condemned books. Translated from the Latin.