2 MOTION PICTURES Motion Pictures, which came into existence some sixty years ago, must today be numbered among the most important means by which the ideas and discoveries of our times can be made known. Concerning their various processes and their power of attraction, We have, when occasion offered, already spoken. Out of this growth, particularly in the case of films which reproduce a definite story expressed in a vivid manner by pictures and sounds, there has also sprung up a great industry in which not only craftsmen, labourers and technicians, but also financial groups unite their activities; for private individuals cannot easily carry through such an extensive and complex operation. Hence, in order that the cinema may remain a worthy instrument by which men can be guided towards salvation, raised to higher things, and become really better, it is absolutely necessary for each of those groups just referred to, exercising a true sense of responsibility, to cooperate readily with each other to produce and distribute films which can win approval. To all those who practise vigilance and act intelligently concerning film shows, We have already more than once made clear the seriousness of the subject, while exhorting them to produce, in particular, the kind of "ideal film" which can certainly contribute to a well balanced education. Do you, Venerable Brethren, take a special interest in seeing that, through the individual National Offices, which must be subject to your authority, and about which We have written above, there shall be imparted to the various classes of interested citizens information on the matters to be viewed, - the advice and the directives by which, in accordance with the different times and circumstances, this most noble art, which can so much help the good of souls, may be as far as possible advanced.
Source: Miranda Prorsus (Vatican.va)