Imprimatur is generally referred to as a printing license. Nowadays, the term means the final printing permission from the author or publisher after the last correction. This is given after the proof reading of the printing flags. Originally, however, the imprimatur meant the permission of censorship, as in the era of the Vormarz, to put a work under pressure (see Demagogy). Such an imprimatur could be a stamp or the like with which the official censor marked a work. The counterpart is the formula Damnatur, which forbade the printing of a book. Moreover, as an imprimatur, the press release for writings, which in the widest sense deals with the Catholic doctrine, is designated. Until the Second Vatican Council (11.10.1962 – 8.12.1965), this was necessary for all the essays written by teachers of Catholic theology, religious and priests and was given by the bishop. In the course of the doctorate, the imprimatur means the release for the publication of a dissertation, which is given when the deficiencies of the work have been eradicated.
The term is derived from the Latin and can be translated with It’ll print. In addition, the word sequence Imprimi potest, whose translation It can be printed, is used and which is used in the same way, albeit more rarely. Usually, the term is nowadays mostly for the release of the author’s pressure and is rarely used in a different context.
Also, with regard to publications dealing with Catholic doctrine, imprimatur is no longer required in any case. Even before the Second Vatican Council, it was printed in the form of Nihil obstat (lat., There is nothing against it) on the back of the title page of a work, whereas today it is granted at the request of the author himself. Nevertheless, the publication of the theologians, who are authorized for the ecclesiastical lemmram, is connected with a review. This necessary examination is undertaken by the Congregation of the Congregation of the Congregation, which controls whether the depicted is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
