Commonly called the Index Libroum Prohibitorum, the Index of Forbidden Books was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. First distributed by Pope Paul IV in 1559, the list was revised and redistributed several times throughout history. The works banned on the list included those that were considered blasphemous, obscene, and/or otherwise inappropriate for churchgoers to read. The final edition of the list (its 20th edition) was published in 1948 and formally abolished in 1966 by Pope Paul VI.