Postponed | Papal Cinema: cinematographic policies of the Holy See from Pius XI to John XXIII

If we wanted to summarize in a few words the relationship between the Church and the cinema, we could say that it has moved between the pole of assent and curiosity towards the new instrument and that of concern about the contents conveyed, the forms of reception and the effects on the spectators. We can thus understand why the Church has developed a sort of dual pedagogy towards the cinema, but also towards television: on the one hand the legitimation and support of the new media, conceived, above all, as pedagogical instruments, and on the other the constant educational and moral concern. Certainly, over time, there have also been significant evolutions, which are at the centre of contemporary studies. In 1955 the two Discourses on the ideal film of Pius XII, in fact, made clear the gradual advancement of more marked demands for dialogue and openness: with those pronouncements Pacelli intended to provide the conscience of the Christian with a systematic pastoral and doctrinal framework that would allow him to identify himself the watershed between the cinema capable of fostering the growth of man and the cinema that risks compromising spiritual development.