1 - Reasons for the Church’s interest

From the time when these arts first came into use, the Church welcomed them, not only with great joy, but also with a motherly care and watchfulness, having in mind to protect Her children from every danger, as they set out on this new path of progress.

This watchful care springs from the mission She has received from the Divine Saviour Himself ; for, as is clear to all, these new forms of art exercise very great influence on the manner of thinking and acting of individuals and of every group of men.

There is, in addition, another reason why the Church considers a matter of this kind to be particularly Her concern: Hers is the duty, and for a much stronger reason than all others can claim, of announcing a message to every man: this is the message of eternal salvation; a message unrivalled in its richness and power, a message, in fine, which all men of every race and every age must accept and embrace, according to the saying of the Apostle of the Gentiles: "To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all men that they may see what is the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God, who created all things".²