Miranda prorsus
| Miranda prorsus (Latin: The Remarkable Inventions) Encyclical letter of Pope Pius XII |
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| Date | 8 September 1957 | |||
| Argument | On mass communication | |||
| Encyclical number | 39 of 41 of the pontificate | |||
Miranda prorsus (8 September 1957) is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII concerning film, radio broadcast and television. The document discussed the potential of mass media to bring about immense good or immense evil and the necessity that those tasked with its supervision ensure that it is used to positively influence the world.
Message
Pius XII writes in his introduction:
Those very remarkable technical inventions which are the boast of the men of our generation, though they spring from human intelligence and industry [.... ] Of these inventions, some increase and multiply the strength and power of men; others improve their conditions of life; while others — and these particularly concern the mind — reach the mass of the people themselves, either directly or through the pictures and sounds they produce, and convey to them in a form easy to understand, the news, thoughts and usages of every nation, and by these means provide, as it were, food for the mind especially during the hours of rest and recreation.
He emphasizes that mass media have an educational mission and clarifies that the dissemination of mass media is also about informing, instructing and educating the masses. He includes the tasks of the state authority and the professional groups and points out the peculiarities of broadcasting through the technology of sound and image radio — in the service of truth and good.
With the individual descriptions of film, radio and television, he points out the obligations of the actors, actresses and directors, while at the same time showing the producers and film distributors their duties. However, he also admonishes and encourages consumers not to be uncritical of these media. Pius XII sees another possibility for the use of the media in the broadcasting of Catholic radio and television programs and concedes their use for the dissemination of the Christian message.
First, the Pope addresses the clergy, pointing out the importance, impact and good use of the media, before concluding his closing remarks:
We decided to lay before you, Venerable Brethren, Our thoughts and anxieties, which you, of course, also share, concerning the grave dangers which can beset Christian Faith and morals if the powerful inventions of Motion Pictures, Radio and Television are perverted by men to evil uses.
We have not, however, passed over the benefits and advantages which these modern instruments can bring. To this end, with the precepts of the Christian Faith and Natural Law to enlighten Us, We have explained the principles which must guide and regulate both the action of the directors of the means of publicity, and the conscience of those who use them. And for the same reason, namely, that the gifts of Divine Providence may secure the good of souls, We have paternally exhorted you not only to exercise a watchful care, but also to use positive action and authority. For it is the function of those National Offices, which on this occasion also We have commended to you, not only to preserve and defend, but, more especially, to direct, organize and assist the many educational projects which have been begun in many countries, so that by means of this difficult and extensive province of the arts, the christian ideas may be ever more widely spread.
See also
Further reading
- Kennedy, John S. (1957). "The Papal Encyclical on Films, Radio and Television," The Critic, Vol. XVI, No. 3, pp. 11, 68.
External links
- Miranda prorsus: full text of English translation on the Vatican website
