Can This be a Valid Catholic Imprimatur?

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  1. Canon Law does not require the appointment of a Censor Liborum according to the 1983 code. See When does a Catholic book need an imprimatur for additional details. In that case, a book could have an imprimatur without a Nihil Obstat

  2. Usually it is the Ordinary -- the Bishop or Archbishop that heads a diocese:

Can. 824 §1 Unless it is established otherwise, the local ordinary whose permission or approval to publish books must be sought according to the canons of this title is the proper local ordinary of the author or the ordinary of the place where the books are published.

In this specific case, the auxiliary bishop was also vicar general (incidentally, Canon Law requires an auxiliary bishop to be vicar general). The vicar general acts on the authority of the Ordinary in a unique way in Canon Law -- the authority of the vicar general is not considered delegated from the bishop and hence you also cannot appeal from the vicar general to the ordinary. Thus, the vicar general in this case likely approved the book by acting in that capacity.

Canon Law at least for imprimaturs does not take account of "ghost writers" -- it is the work itself not the author which is scrutinized for defects in faith and moral.

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