Congregation of the doctrine of the faith?

Question

Was there an index of banned books while the current Pope was head of the office? Do any books remain on the list?

Answer 1

Short answer is no. The list you are referring to is called the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, and it has a long history. It was abolished in 1966 under Pope Paul VI, following the end of the Second Vatican Council.

Now, the Catholic Church will occasionally speak out against certain books, and each bishop has the right to voice an opinion on things like this, (we saw a lot of that with "The Da Vinci Code), but there is no official list anymore. Believe it or not, the Vatican doesn't tell Catholics every single little thing to think or not think.