Church Document
Inter Mirifica
Document of the Second Vatican Council (1963)
The Decree on the Media of Social Communications, promulgated on the same day as Sacrosanctum Concilium at the close of the Council's second session — the first two documents Vatican II gave the Church. In two short chapters the Council sets out the Church's teaching on the press, cinema, radio and television: the moral order governs their use, the faithful have a right to information that is true and complete, the demands of art never dispense from the moral law, and readers, viewers and listeners bear real responsibility for what they choose. The second chapter turns to pastoral action, asking bishops and the faithful to support a Catholic press and Catholic broadcasting, to form consciences in the right use of the media, and to keep an annual day in every diocese on which the faithful are instructed in their duties in this field and asked to support the Church's work of communication.
Excerpt
The Church recognizes that these media, if properly utilized, can be of great service to mankind, since they greatly contribute to men's entertainment and instruction as well as to the spread and support of the Kingdom of God.
Key themes
The moral order and the media of social communication
The right to true and complete information
Art, morality, and the formation of conscience
The duties of authors, readers, viewers, and listeners
Pastoral action and a Catholic press
An annual day for social communications
Document type
Council document
Issuing authority
Pope Paul VI / Second Vatican Council
Issued date
Related documents
- sacrosanctum-concilium
- gaudium-et-spes
Content subtype
council_decree
