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149-508: SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication ) is a [[Roman Catholic ecclesial movement of the Faithful [1] ] for professionals in the communication media , including press , radio, television, cinema, video, media education , internet, and new technology. It is a non-profit organization with representation from over 100 countries. It was formed in November 2001 by

298-473: A free content work. Licensed under CC BY SA 3.0 IGO ( license statement/permission ). Text taken from World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report 2017/2018​ , 202, UNESCO. Mirari Vos Mirari vos (Latin: "That you wonder"; subtitled "On Liberalism and Religious Indifferentism "), sometimes referred to as Mirari vos arbitramur ,

447-878: A Catholic association. Following a formal statement made by the Vatican – "resulting from the serious management crisis the organisation has been experiencing for years" – UCIP (International Catholic Press Union) was no longer able to use the adjective "Catholic". In 1952, the first newsletter was sent out from the Paris General Secretariat of UCIP. It was published in French as Bulletin International de l'UICP , and in Spanish. Later editions were also published in German and English. Between 1961 and 1972,

596-425: A Catholic near-monopoly in education, and an anointed monarch as the bedrock of a godly society. In November 1831, Lammennais and Montalembert traveled to Rome, seeking confirmation from Pope Gregory that views expressed in their newspaper were orthodox. Although pressured by the French government and the French hierarchy, Gregory would have preferred not to make an official issue of the matter. After much opposition,

745-694: A bi-monthly publication called Journalistes Catholiques (65 issues) were published by the UCIP Secretary General, the French Assumptionist Fr. Emile Gabel (1908–1968). From the 1960s, Unda and OCIC began to hold joint meetings and assemblies and incorporated work on the small and grassroots media that were then being developed. After the Unda-OCIC Congress in Manilla in 1980, the first joint meeting of

894-644: A bridge between the Catholic Church and the professional world of cinema. While explicitly religious films are appreciated, OCIC came to realize that well-made films grounded in humanity made the most impact – a policy of seeing 'Christ in the Marketplace'. The image of the marketplace was later embraced by John Paul II, referring to Paul's mixed hearing in the Athens marketplace, the Areopagus (Acts of

1043-475: A bridge between the Church and the modern world and started to promote Thomism , the theology based on that of Thomas Aquinas in an attempt to see if it might help to solve modern problems. In 1888, Leo XIII wrote that unconditional freedom of speech and publication could be tolerated. Later on, in the 1920s, Pope Pius XI encouraged the growth of Catholic Action : professional Catholics working and acting in

1192-475: A change in which people communicate with others as well as receive information. About 53% use social media to read/watch the news. Many people use the information specifically from social media influencers to understand more about a topic, business, or organization. Social media has now been made part of everyday news production for journalists around the world. Not only does social media provide more connection between readers and journalists, but it also cultivates

1341-451: A communication method to aid in scientific research and create interaction. The narrative, layout, and gaming features all share a relationship that can deliver meaning and value that make games an innovative communication tool. Research-focused games showed a connection towards a greater usage of dialogue within the science community as players had the opportunity to address issues with a game with themselves and scientists. This helped to push

1490-439: A complex but largely positive approach to this new art. It wanted to offer guidance to audiences and to discover and foster productions which promoted the same values as Christians did. It wanted to inform lay Catholics and others, in a professional way, about the moral and artistic quality of films, so that they could decide themselves if they would go and see a film or not. It was the beginning of film education . OCIC called for

1639-483: A contact or an intern bulletin between the General Secretariat and its members, the national Catholic film centers. An information bulletin which was focussed upon the life and activities of OCIC itself containing reports on the international and national meetings, activities, discussions, and so on. It was also published in French and Spanish. The aim was to bring together the activities of the members, and

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1788-776: A controversy concerning the OCIC prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1968, which resulted in discussions with Church authorities and the Vatican. The jury gave its prize to Pier Paolo Pasolini , avowed Communist, though winner of the 1964 award for his The Gospel According to St. Matthew , for his film, Teorema . The controversy was inflamed by another spark when the Berlin International Film Festival 1969 award went to John Schlesinger 's Oscar winner for Best Picture , Midnight Cowboy . This meant that after forty years of activity, OCIC

1937-618: A culture of peace and dialogue. This was not only a matter of politicians and diplomats but also and a matter of the cultural world. In 1922, a technical committee for culture, the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (CICI), was formed, with personalities like Marie Curie , Albert Einstein , Gabriela Mistral , and Henri Bergson , to shape the mind of the members of the League of Nations, for example, toward rectifying errors in text books which were alleged to be

2086-441: A decrease in diversity of content and views in certain countries due to actions made against broadcasters by states via their licensing authorities. This can have an impact on competition and may lead to an excessive concentration of power with potential influence on public opinion. Examples include the failure to renew or retain licenses for editorially critical media, reducing the regulator's competences and mandates for action, and

2235-452: A democratic citizen. So, it is understandable that this work is one of the most important fields of action of SIGNIS. The SIGNIS Media Education Project aims to bring together worldwide experiences and achievements in this field. SIGNIS members want to come together to use financial, material, and human resources more effectively so that they can give a coherent response to the "onslaught of national and global media" on people and cultures across

2384-592: A desire to give a voice to the Church in the public sphere. Notable examples are The Tablet launched in Britain in 1840 by Frederick Lucas , a convert to Catholicism, The Universe launched in Britain in 1860 by Archibald Dunn, and the Catholic Press , an Australian newspaper. In Sri Lanka, the layman John Fernando founded the Gnanartha Pradeepaya , a Sinhala-language Catholic weekly, as

2533-646: A four-page broadsheet of Church news and papal speeches in 1865. In 1886, more than two decades after it started, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo became the weekly's official owner. It is one of the oldest Catholic newspapers in Asia. The Assumptionists launched La Croix as a daily newspaper in France in 1883. In 1910, the First Congress for Brazilian Catholic Journalists found

2682-477: A lack of due process in the adoption of regulatory decisions. Governments worldwide have sought to extend regulation to internet companies, whether connectivity providers or application service providers , and whether domestically or foreign-based. The impact on journalistic content can be severe, as internet companies can err too much on the side of caution and take down news reports, including algorithmically, while offering inadequate opportunities for redress to

2831-611: A mainspring of racial prejudices. Out of this committee came a permanent organisation to study the development of cinema as a tool of education. Only member states and international organisations were admitted to this organization. In 1926, the International Union of Catholic Women's Leagues (UILFC – since 1952, the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations , WUCWO) urged Catholics involved in cinema to build an international Catholic cinema organisation in order to have

2980-487: A married clergy: "We ask that you strive with all your might to justify and to defend the law of clerical celibacy as prescribed by the sacred canons , against which the arrows of the lascivious are directed from every side." He also denounced those who advocated divorce, and secret societies that sought to overturn the legitimate governments of the Italian states. The pope attacked religious indifferentism, defined as

3129-572: A means of exchanging cultural values, a way of fostering mutual understanding. Radio was thought of as the means par excellence for reconciling peoples, fostering fellowship among nations, and promoting peace. Like OCIC, BCIR also developed different aspects of media education. Due to the arrival of the Nazis into power, the BCIR General Secretariat moved in 1935 from Germany to Amsterdam . Fr. Perquin resigned and Msgr. Marschall became

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3278-418: A method to prevent the concentration of media ownership. Licensing has been criticized for an alleged lack of transparency . Regulatory authorities in certain countries have been accused of exhibiting political bias in favor of the government or ruling party, which has resulted in some prospective broadcasters being denied licenses or being threatened with license withdrawal. As a consequence, there has been

3427-690: A new means of evangelization . Efforts had to be made to evangelize the secular mass media, or at least to insert the values of the Gospel into them. As a result of the merger of the Catholic media organizations OCIC and Unda, SIGNIS was founded in 2001. The archives of OCIC and Unda are located in the Documentation and Research Centre for Religion, Culture, and Society, KADOC, at the Catholic University of Louvain ( KU Leuven ). In 2014,

3576-600: A newspaper, L'Avenir ("The Future") in October 1830. While the paper was a strong proponent of ultramontanism , supporting the authority of the papacy in opposition to nationalist and secularist ideas, it also advocated an enlarged suffrage, separation of church and state , and universal freedom of conscience , instruction, assembly, and the press. Its editors saw no conflict between Catholicism and liberal reform. The conservative French hierarchy regarded such views as dangerous nonsense, many considering an established church,

3725-726: A paper to the ECIC in London, linking media literacy and advocacy issues. In 2008, a cover story on the changing media landscape which is the establishing of the digital world was published in SIGNIS Media . For SIGNIS, there is also the dimension of how the values of the gospel can be present and enhance the digital age at the service for a better world for humankind. At the SIGNIS Quebec World Congress in June 2017,

3874-545: A place and the Catholic national press agency O Centro de Boa Imprensa , which aim was to send quality articles to the many small Catholic journals and periodicals all over the country was organized. Before 1914, there were Catholic journalist associations in the United States (CPA), Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, and elsewhere. Catholic newspapers appeared also in Asia. In 1927, young lay Catholics published The Catholic Times of Korea during Japanese colonial rule. At

4023-541: A presence "on all fronts". That is why, as early as 1921, he joined a group of Catholics who had founded a distribution agency under the name Brabo-Films . He became one of the leading personalities, as president of OCIC in the 1930s, in the field of cinema. OCIC itself was the result of international politics. In 1919, the League of Nations was established in Geneva with the objective to prevent another world war by promoting

4172-685: A race against time because the Protestants had the same plans to be present in the world via the new invention which was the radio. In the US, the first Catholic stations went on the air in 1925 in Canton, Ohio ; Yakima, Washington , and East St. Louis, Illinois . That same year, the Paulist Fathers established WLWL , their own radio station in New York. The aim was acquainting the public with

4321-560: A result of this single evil, namely immoderate freedom of opinion, license of free speech, and desire for novelty. Here We must include that harmful and never sufficiently denounced freedom to publish any writings whatever and disseminate them to the people, which some dare to demand and promote with so great a clamor. We are horrified to see what monstrous doctrines and prodigious errors are disseminated far and wide in countless books, pamphlets, and other writings which, though small in weight, are very great in malice." In fact, they blamed them for

4470-527: A say in the international film work of the League of Nations. This led to the founding of OCIC in 1928 with its first secretary general the French canon Joseph Reymond , who also became the secretary of the International Educational Cinematographic Institute (IECI) of the League of Nations. It was a way to counter the influence of those who had a negative attitude towards the Catholic world. OCIC developed

4619-430: A sense of belonging through the screen. Gaming is an activity shared amongst others regardless of age, allowing for a diverse group of players to connect and enjoy their favorite games with. This helps with creating or maintaining relationships: friendships, family, or a significant other. As with most interactive media content, games have ratings to assist in choosing appropriate games regarding younger audiences. This

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4768-646: A story is genuine or not. There have also been broader initiatives bringing together a variety of donors and actors to promote fact-checking and news literacy , such as the News Integrity Initiative at the City University of New York 's School of Journalism. This 14 million USD investment by groups including the Ford Foundation and Facebook was launched in 2017 so its full impact remains to be seen. It will, however, complement

4917-600: A strong communication association capable of addressing communication challenges in Africa for purposes of empowering the youth. UCIP secretaries-general for the period 1927–2011 : Joseph Ageorges (France, 1927–1940); Hein Houben (The Netherlands; 1935–1940); Jean-Pierre Dubois‐Dumée (France, 1950–1955); Emile Gabel (France, 1955–1968); Pierre Chevalier (France, 1974–1980); Bruno Holtz (Switzerland, 1984–1993); Joseph Chittilappilly (India, 1993–2011) UCIP presidents for

5066-428: A support for media freedom and development organizations by intergovernmental organizations such as UNESCO and non-governmental organizations . There has been a continued trend of establishing self-regulatory bodies, such as press councils, in conflict and post-conflict situations. Major internet companies have responded to pressure by governments and the public by elaborating self-regulatory and complaints systems at

5215-709: A year later at the Venice Film Festival . The OCIC jury at Cannes began in 1952. This enabled OCIC to develop its criteria for its awards over these years. One difficulty which emerged was a clash of perspectives on occasion with the decisions of the US Legion of Decency which had been set up (even with an oath of loyalty) by the American bishops in 1934, the time of the enforcement of the Motion Picture Code for all American film production. In

5364-792: Is being spread.  Instagram works with these fact checkers to ensure that no false information is being spread around the site. Instagram started this work in 2019, following Facebook with the idea as they started fact checking in 2016. Developments in telecommunications has provided media the ability to conduct long-distance communication via analog and digital media: Modern communication media includes long-distance exchanges between larger numbers of people ( many-to-many communication via email , Internet forums , and telecommunications ports ). Traditional broadcast media and mass media favor one-to-many communication (television, cinema , radio, newspaper , magazines , and social media ). Electronic Media, specifically social media has become one of

5513-581: Is believed to influence children's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. The usage and consumption of gaming has tremendously increased within the last decade with estimates of around 2.3 billion people from around the world playing digital and online video games. The growth rate for the global market for gaming was expected to grow 6.2% towards 2020. Areas like Latin America had a 20.1% increase, Asia-Pacific - 9.2%, North America - 4.0%, and Europe -11.7%. Studies show that digital and online gaming can be used as

5662-416: Is committed to lobbying for policies to encourage communications that respect Christian values, justice and human rights; to involving media professionals in the dialogue on questions of professional ethics, and to fostering ecumenical and interfaith cooperation in the media sector. The Mission of SIGNIS is: "To engage with media professionals and support Catholic Communicators to help transform our cultures in

5811-403: Is done by ESRB ratings and consists of the following: E for Everyone, E for Everyone 10+, T for Teen, and M for Mature 17+. Whenever a new game is released, it is reviewed by associations to determine a suitable rating so younger audiences do not consume harmful or inappropriate content. With these ratings it helps the risks and effects of gaming on younger audiences because the exposure of media

5960-525: Is not an acronym. The Holy See has officially recognized SIGNIS as an International Association of the Faithful and has included the "World Catholic Association for Communication, also known as SIGNIS" in its Directory of International Associations of the Faithful , published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity . Before the dissolution of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications ,

6109-493: Is responsible, it delegates the job to its European affiliates. The idea is to be an ecumenical forum for fostering TV programmes of high professional standard which reflect the vision of Christianity and values proper to man. Since then the event occurred every two years. The 1934 publication of the first BCIR Bulletin represents a principal aim of the organisation through its entire history: to collect and diffuse information and documentation on broadcasting Catholics working in

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6258-672: The BBC , and so on. At the end of the meeting, the Unda General Assembly elected Fr. Kors o.p. as president. Two months later, Unda did found the Department of Television, which was a sub-secretariat directed in paris by the Dominican Fr. Raymond Pichard o.p. He started to develop a network of eighty TV specialists in twenty countries and published a monthly International Catholic TV review . In February 1954, Unda organized

6407-576: The Bible and to bring it in the digital new world for research. The digital evolution, or revolution, had an indirect influence on the birth of SIGNIS. In 1993, the General Secretariat of OCIC with its secretary general Robert Molhant introduced the e-mail , first with the Missionary Service of OCIC in Rome and then with the members worldwide. The organisation entered a new era of communication. In

6556-598: The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations , in Geneva and New York City and the Council of Europe . SIGNIS is a worldwide network working in media, with the aim of alerting Christians to the importance of human communication in every culture, and encouraging them to speak out in this sector. SIGNIS, which represents Catholic media in all the governmental and nongovernmental organizations and institutions,

6705-607: The Persian Empire ( Chapar Khaneh and Angarium ) and Roman Empire , can be interpreted as early forms of media. Writers such as Howard Rheingold have framed early forms of human communication, such as the Lascaux cave paintings and early writing, as early forms of media. Another framing of the history of media starts with the Chauvet Cave paintings and continues with other ways to carry human communication beyond

6854-399: The Pontifical Council for Social Communications , Holy See Press Office , Vatican Internet Service , Vatican Radio , Vatican Television Center , Osservatore Romano , Vatican Press (it) , Photograph Service , and Vatican Publishing House . A representative of this new Secretariat for Communications is part of the governing body of SIGNIS. SIGNIS has consultative status with UNESCO ,

7003-487: The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights , impacts on the presence of independent journalism by defining the limits of what should or should not be carried and prioritized in the most popular digital spaces. Public pressure on technology giants has motivated the development of new strategies aimed not only at identifying ' fake news ', but also at eliminating some of

7152-403: The radio frequency spectrum was public property . This prohibited private organizations from owning any portion of the spectrum. A broadcast license is typically given to broadcasters by communications regulators, allowing them to broadcast on a certain frequency and typically in a specific geographical location. Licensing is done by regulators in order to manage a broadcasting medium and as

7301-525: The "user of the internet provides the content" were prophetic. Catholic communicators then asked him the question "How will the technology use us?" At that time, he couldn't give a clear answer, but he drew attention to the possible ethical effects on the digital new world. At the OCIC/Unda World Congress in Rome in 2001, at the birth of SIGNIS, a symposium/seminar was given by webmasters. In 2006, SIGNIS staff member Jim McDonnell presented

7450-657: The 1950s, the Americans indicated that some films which had won OCIC awards were rated Objectionable or Condemned by the Legion and were concerned at this difference in moral perspective. The philosophy behind the Legion of Decency was not influential in Europe, although the work of the Legion was acknowledged positively by Pius XI in his encyclical letter, Vigilanti Cura , 1936. Then with changes in what could be portrayed on screen and how it could be portrayed, Fr. Bernard had to face

7599-624: The 1990s, it was clear for Unda, OCIC, and even UCIP that in the digital world, the images and sounds (television, film, music, radio, and journalism) were dissolving the boundaries between traditional media. In 1996, OCIC organised at its 4th World Video and Multimedia Forum in Cologne , Germany, themed to "A symposium on the Computer and its global Empire". The keynote was given by Derrick de Kerckhove . His words on 28 September 1996 in Cologne that

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7748-529: The 19th century, Catholics considered the press, and in the 20th century, cinema and radio, to be powerful modern popular media that could influence worldviews and moral values. Many Catholics, including Pope Gregory XVI and Pope Pius IX , did not trust modernity , and the popular media were no exception. Gregory XVI published in 1832 his encyclical Mirari Vos (On Liberalism and Religious Indiffertism) that "Experience shows, even from earliest times, that cities renowned for wealth, dominion, and glory perished as

7897-576: The 48th World Communication Day (2014) calls the faithful to become "boldly citizens of the digital world" which can be an environment rich in humanity; a network not of wires but of people. "Personal engagement is the basis of the trustworthiness of a communicator. Christian witness, thanks to the Internet, can thereby reach the peripheries of human existence." From 1980 on, this was a reinforced tendency for OCIC and Unda. In 1981, Br. Ferdinand Poswick , linked with OCIC, launched his project to digitalize

8046-486: The Apostles, 17), that media is the 'new Areopagus'. This policy has guided OCIC and the film work of SIGNIS over the decades, leading to the presence of OCIC juries at world film festivals, national OCIC cinema awards, publications on the cinema of different nations (especially from Africa), movie reviews in publications and online, promotion of particular films, dialogue with directors and filmmakers, and offering advice on

8195-559: The Bishops rather than OCIC. Preservation of film also became a concern. The consequences for OCIC in terms of policy and power was that it could not be described as a 'sacristy' organization. Later, a succinct description of how OCIC saw its scope (as the president, Fr. Peter Malone , put forward at the audience with John Paul II at the time of the merger of Unda and OCIC in SIGNIS), as both supporting Catholics who work in cinema and being

8344-720: The Board established a digital desk alongside the other desks (cinema, television, radio, media education, and journalism). The theme of the SIGNIS-Africa General Congress and Assembly held in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia in September 2019 was "The African Youth in the Digital World; Promoting Creativity for Integral Development". The theme came up with the conclusion that the digital media should be at

8493-535: The CPA, and 800 journalists, including 600 from the United States, discussed the theme: "The truth in the search for freedom." The discussions were about freedom in politics, in art, in the press, and the relation between freedom and authority, freedom and civic rights, and freedom and the international order. Afterwards the name was changed to International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP). At its fiftieth anniversary in 1977,

8642-533: The Catholic press in Marseille . These statutes were presented to the Vatican at the 2nd International Congress of Catholic Journalists in September 1936 in Rome. That year, Count Giuseppe Dalla Torre of the L'Osservatore Romano became the president of the association. In 1937, the Dominican Fr. Felix Morlion , linked with OCIC, proposed an International Newsletter of the film press, to be established in Breda where

8791-412: The Catholic viewpoint of Current Affairs ". Fr. Joseph MacSorley , Superior General specified this in saying that the station intended to be the "official mouthpiece of everything Catholic. We want especially to reach isolated communities where there is no Catholic Church". All lasted only a few years. That year, the Dominican Fr. Lambert Perquin founded the Catholic Radio Broadcasting Company ( KRO ) in

8940-399: The Catholic world. The home computer meant that the digital world was entering fast into mass culture . It was as if it absorbed the bits and digits of mass culture like a lightning fire. The arrival of the first real digital camera in 1988 changed a lot – even more when Photoshop came into being shortly after. A year later, the World Wide Web was invented and soon became accessible for

9089-407: The Congress, the International Meeting of Young Journalists, a branch of UCIP, was held. Despite the reluctance of the Vatican , the UCIP adopted somewhat later new statutes that allow the reception of non-Catholics. Due to administrative mismanagement of the elections of the board of UCIP of 2007 at the 22nd Congress in Sherbrooke , Canada and other issues, the Vatican withdrew recognition of UCIP as

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9238-418: The European members of Unda (Unda Europe) and WACC organized the first joint Christian Television Week at Monte-Carlo. Television stations and networks from sixteen countries submitted a total of fifty-two programmes for competition in three categories: drama, entertainment, and news, documentary. Participation took place worldwide. It is done both Unda and WACC, but they take turns as chief organizer; when Unda

9387-413: The Geneva-based Union Internationale de Radiodiffusion . BCIR was also asked to help in organizing Vatican Radio 's first broadcast and to advise them in this new communication domain. In the 1930s, Catholic broadcasters worldwide had an optimistic view of the development of radio and, later, of the new medium of television. It could transcend frontiers and bring peoples and cultures together. It could be

9536-417: The Good News), 1975. In March 1937, the first Newsletter of OCIC was published in Brussels. It was only in French. It was mimeographed and produced in the office and the first issue counted five pages send by post to the members and other stakeholders. Although it was not in German, the newsletter Informations de l'OCIC had also a German title Mitteilungen des Internationales Katholischen Filmbüro . When

9685-453: The International Center for Films for Children and Young People, CIFEJ , and a year later, the Belgian Fr. Léo Lunders o.p. of OCIC became a founder of CIFEJ; in the 1960s and 1970s, the organizations supported the Plan DENI in Latin America; and from 1987 to 2001, Unda with OCIC produced its Educommunication Magazine (or in French Educommunication Nouvelles ). From the 1970s on, the digital world did start expanding worldwide also in

9834-403: The Motion Picture Vigilanti Cura , published in 1936. The dominant perspective in this encyclical was cautious, defensive, and moralising, following the approach of the Legion of Decency which had been founded by the US Catholic Church to launch a crusade against the "abuses" of the motion pictures. After the Second World War , the Vatican began to move closer to the approach taken by OCIC in

9983-403: The Netherlands, as did the Socialist Association of Works Amateurs (Vara) and a year later, the Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcasting Company . European Catholic broadcasters did meet for the first time in May 1927 in Cologne (Germany) while attending an international press exhibition organized by Dr. Konrad Adenauer , the mayor of the city. They decided to gather again a year later to discuss

10132-414: The Press in the Vatican, the heart of fascist Italy in which there was no freedom of the press. That year, it was decided to have formal statutes for the International Bureau of Catholic Journalists. In 1935, the two organizations, the International Bureau of Catholic Journalists and the Permanent Commission of Catholic Publishers and Directors of Catholic Newspapers, federated into an international union of

10281-424: The Rue Traversière. This office was occupied from 1940 to 1944 and after the war, it was the new secretary general Yvonne de Hemptinne who integrated the secretariat in her home at the rue de l'Orme, also in Brussels from 1946 to 1996, where it had to be abandoned due to expropriation and the project of the government to demolish the building for a new construction (which was not done until 2018). Between 1996 and 2001,

10430-484: The UCIP World Congress in Pattaya , Thailand, in 1996, Mees appealed for closer ties with OCIC and Unda. He said UCIP, OCIC, and Unda members could train Catholic journalists and work together in a way that reflected sincere faith and make "Catholic" mean "quality". Since many members of Unda and OCIC worked in several media, and since media ministry was cross-media, the impetus for a combined Catholic Association for audio-visual media grew ever stronger, eventually leading to

10579-400: The United States and Canada). Catholics were involved in the new art of cinema from its inception. In November 1895, the Catholic University of Louvain organised a screening of the Auguste and Louis Lumière films. In April–May 1898, the Englishman William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company cinematographed Pope Leo XIII in the gardens of the Vatican. It

10728-591: The Vatican suggested that SIGNIS should also integrate the members of the former International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP), which a few years earlier had lost its recognition by the Holy See as an official Catholic organization. At the SIGNIS World Congress of 2017 in Quebec , several Catholic press associations, former members of UCIP, were welcomed, among them CPA (Catholic Press Association of

10877-654: The access of programmers to satellite transponders in parts of the Western Europe , North America , the Arab region and in Asia and the Pacific . The Arab Satellite Broadcasting Charter was an example of efforts to bring formal standards and some regulatory authority to bear on what is transmitted, but it appears to not have been implemented. Self-regulation is expressed as a preferential system by journalists but also as

11026-451: The affected news producers. In Western Europe , self-regulation provides an alternative to state regulatory authorities. In such contexts, newspapers have historically been free of licensing and regulation, and there has been repeated pressure for them to self-regulate or at least to have in-house ombudsmen . However, it has often been difficult to establish meaningful self-regulatory entities. In many cases, self-regulations exists in

11175-716: The boards of Unda and OCIC was held in Washington in 1982 to study mutual relations. A commission, led by the American Fr. John Geaney, CSP, suggested that the two organizations should merge. But at the World Congress in Quito of 1987, the proposal was not accepted: they said yes to intense collaboration, but no to a merger. This decision was a paradox, because a few days earlier, the Latin American branches of

11324-450: The case of requests from governments. At the same time, however, the study signaled a number of companies that have become more opaque when it comes to disclosing how they enforce their own terms of service, in restricting certain types of content and account. State governments can also use "Fake news" in order to spread propaganda. In addition to responding to pressure for more clearly defined self-regulatory mechanisms, and galvanized by

11473-407: The church but above all in the secular world of broadcasting. The organisation (first BCIR and then Unda) published in his monthly bulletin, a quarterly review or both news for and about the members, coverage of major BCIR/Unda events, commentaries on official Church events and pronouncements, topics in broadcasting (matters of professional technical or pastoral interest), and announcements/decisions of

11622-547: The citizen to examine the process of media production, media strategies, media ownership, the ways knowledge and meaning are made, as well as media's immense power for empowerment. The areas covered by SIGNIS in this perspective are very diverse: advertising, radio, popular music, film, television, video, and the Internet . A media educated person is able to create his or her own media statements, to engage confidently with media producers, and to exercise actively his or her rights as

11771-490: The creating of a permanent international organization for Catholics in radio. This meant not only Catholic radio, but also Catholics working in non-Catholic radio stations. In 1928, they did found the Bureau Catholique International de Radiodiffusion (BCIR) in Cologne during their meeting in June of that year. The name BICR was changed after the war into Unda. The president of BCIR was Fr. Perquin;

11920-493: The creation of national organizations dealing with topics such as childhood, families, spirituality, religion and cinema, and film reviews (an early form of media education ). It also expressed its intention to collaborate with the film industry. One of its concerns was the promotion of 'good' films, both for education and entertainment. This was one of the aspects put forward by the Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XI on

12069-477: The debates over so-called 'fake news', internet companies such as Facebook have launched campaigns to educate users about how to more easily distinguish between 'fake news' and real news sources. Ahead of the United Kingdom national election in 2017 , for example, Facebook published a series of advertisements in newspapers with 'Tips for Spotting False News' which suggested 10 things that might signal whether

12218-399: The declining influence of religion in society. Modernity did not simply introduce technological and scientific innovations; it enabled the dissemination of new ideologies, based mostly on atheism and challenging the place of the Church in society. Pope Pius IX in 1864 condemned modernity, liberalism , and "pestilential books, pamphlets and newspapers". However, Pope Leo XIII wanted to build

12367-538: The departure of Ruszkowski by Pierre d'André and then by the Jesuit Emmanuel Flipo in Paris, reached more than 170 issues. In the first years, it became worldwide an eye opener for the professional film world and film journalists and film historians. It gave a lot of attention to non-American cinema: European, Asian, and Latin American. In 1955, it published a special issue dedicated to filmology , which

12516-838: The director was Msgr. Bernhard Marschall , responsible for the Catholic radio in Germany and of the BCIR General Secretariat in Cologne. At its first International Congress (1929) in Munich, BICR drew attention to the importance of radio for religious, cultural, and social life. It issued a blueprint for action: "Decisions for Catholics and Broadcasting". It also established criteria for membership: "National Committees", representing Catholic individuals and groups professionally or pastorally engaged in broadcasting. In that spirit, BCIR invited Catholics to collaborate with radio companies (private or public) in making religious programmes and to foster Christian values. In 1930, BCIR established formal liaison with

12665-460: The discussion which led to this document on ethics in the Internet, Pope John Paul II supported the reflection of the PCSS. He felt the urgency to have a kind of guidance in this field. In Ethics in Internet , he considered the digital as a great help to the Church's pastors and faithful in facing the many challenges of the emerging media culture. He wrote: Opportunities created by new technology, by

12814-583: The elderly. Catholic communicators were attentive to this evolution. All this shapes a greater part of the world view and view of life of ever more people, which implies ethical aspects. The Vatican was also alert to this evolution. The Pontifical Council for Social Communications (PCSS) published a series of documents on this topic such as Ethics in Advertising (1997), Ethics in Communications (2000), and Ethics in Internet (2001). During

12963-690: The end of 1927, the International Bureau of Catholic Journalists (later renamed the Federation of National Associations of Catholic Journalists) was founded in Paris. In 1928, the Permanent Commission of Catholic Publishers and Directors of Catholic Newspapers came into being in Cologne in Germany. More and more catholic newspapers were launched worldwide in the coming years as the Malaysian bishops did on 5 January 1935 with

13112-456: The end of 2001, the moment OCIC merged with Unda into SIGNIS. In 1928, OCIC was founded in the Dutch city The Hague (Den Haag). The first secretary general was Rev. Reymond who got the secretariat established in Paris. In 1933, the secretariat moved from Paris to Leuven (Belgium) where the new president Brohée and the new secretariat Bernard were. Two years later, the staff moved to Brussels to

13261-571: The end of that year for the second time Informations of OCIC , the result of a decision taken at the General Committee of OCIC at its Madrid meeting. There was obviously the International Film Review, but this was the magazine which was mostly directed to the secular film world and to make clear that Catholic professionals were contributing and developing in a positive way to the international film culture. It needed

13410-559: The films of the Passion of Jesus Christ became more and more popular every Lent , and were among the most expensive productions in the whole film world. It wrote also that in these years in the US, most films of the Passion were coming from France and Great Britain. From 1910 on, almost every Belgian city had its Catholic cinema (called mostly Family cinema, or Patria). In these cinema halls, educational as well as entertainment films were on

13559-706: The first International Catholic Conference for Television in Paris and had as its theme "The Status of Catholic Television and Its Place Within National Broadcasting Systems". Due to the conference, the first Eurovision broadcast could be worked out. With the Eurovision officials at the European Broadcasting Union , the Pope could give a message in Italian, French, German, English, and Dutch on Pentecost Sunday . In 1969,

13708-653: The first time, vice presidents from French-speaking Canada and the United States, although the CPA became a member-only in 1955. After the war, the secretariat of the organisation was transferred to Paris. The fourth congress was held in Paris in May 1954, on the theme: "The Catholic press in the world, its mission, its future", with the participation of 250 journalists from 28 countries. At the UCIP Congress in Vienna in 1957, with four hundred participants from 32 countries, it

13857-531: The general public. Around 1995, the Internet and the digital sound and images in all media and communications were introduced. Quickly, mass culture became digital. In 1997, the first social networking website SixDegrees.com was launched. Nine years later, Facebook entered the world. Social media became definitely part of the digital world and often attracts all the attention of the user day and night. The digital evolution has entered into virtually every part of life and society, from young children to adults and

14006-664: The governing body of SIGNIS included a representative of this pontifical council, another department of the Roman Curia . OCIC, Unda, and SIGNIS had also members and consultors in the Pontifical Council of Social Communications. In June 2015, Pope Francis established a new dicastery of the Roman Curia with authority over all communications offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, including

14155-436: The heart of ethics in the media. In Ethics in Internet , the ethical questions asked were multiple: Will it contribute to authentic human development and community building? Will the digital divide favor social and economic justice? Will it not be dominated by one commercial secular culture? Will it guarantee the freedom of expression and the exchange of ideas? Will it serve serious journalism? Pope Francis in his message for

14304-502: The individual company level, using principles they have developed under the framework of the Global Network Initiative . The Global Network Initiative has grown to include several large telecom companies alongside internet companies such as Google , Facebook and others, as well as civil society organizations and academics. The European Commission 's 2013 publication, ICT Technology Sector Guide on Implementing

14453-616: The interests of members; to help meet communications needs of members; to help meet communications needs of the Third World ; and to collaborate with non-Catholic organizations having similar objectives. In February 1958, for example, participants from twelve countries came together in the second ever International Television Festival (the first was the Prix Italia ) in the world, organised in Monte Carlo by Unda. This TV festival

14602-448: The internal bulletin into an international periodical for internal and external use. In 1988, it changed its name into CINE-MEDIA and gradually it became a trilingual international quarterly magazine. It wanted to show the world OCIC activities – of the General Secretariat and its members – and reflections on cinema in the secular world. The need to have a new internal bulletin was felt and OCIC info did appear once more. It existed till

14751-465: The light of the Gospel by promoting Human Dignity, Justice and Reconciliation." The Catholic Church has a long history of engagement with the media of communications, from the liturgy itself, in manuscripts and print publishing, in painting, architecture, and music. But with the emergence and spread of new popular media in the latter half of the 19th century, the Church faced new challenges. Already in

14900-585: The main World Congress. Theresa Ee-Chooi of Malaysia was elected as the first woman president. She was also the first Asian and first non-European president of the organisation. On 19 September 2001, a few days after the attack on the World Trade Center towers , more than a thousand participants attended the twentieth UCIP Congress, at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, to discuss

15049-464: The matters of cinema. While Unda was much more involved in its development with specifically Catholic production for Catholic audiences, OCIC soon realised that film production was beyond the funds and technical abilities of its members. There were some hopes and flirtations with production in the early 1930s, especially in the Netherlands, but the members and leadership of OCIC saw that their work

15198-427: The media (OCIC in the field of cinema, Unda in radio and television, and UCIP in the press). The interest of Catholics in the press and especially in the new media was understandable. They saw the opportunities offered by the mass media to present their views and opinions on life and the world and so they naturally became involved in promoting education and values. These professional Catholic lay associations, working in

15347-500: The merger of International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual (OCIC) and International Catholic Association for Radio and Television (Unda) . At its World Congress in Quebec in 2017, SIGNIS welcomed also former member organisations of the International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP) . The word SIGNIS (always in uppercase) is a combination of the words SIGN and IGNIS (Latin for "fire"). It

15496-402: The merger of Unda and OCIC as SIGNIS on 21 November 2001 in Rome. Following the demise of UCIP in 2011, SIGNIS opened up membership to Catholic journalists, and at the SIGNIS World Congress of 2017 in Quebec , several Catholic press associations, former members of UCIP, were welcomed into SIGNIS, among them the CPA ( Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada ). SIGNIS recognizes

15645-633: The mid-1960s, the term had spread to general use in North America and the United Kingdom. According to H. L. Mencken , the phrase mass media was used as early as 1923 in the United States. The term medium (the singular form of media ) is defined as "one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television." The role of regulatory authorities (license broadcaster institutions, content providers , platforms) and

15794-681: The new president and the Dutch Dominican Fr. John Dito o.p. of the KRO became the new General Secretary. After World War II and during the succeeding decades, these principles found new expression in radio and television activities. In 1946, BCIR changed its name to Unda, which is Latin for "wave". Its objectives were: to help coordinate professional and apostolic activities of Catholics in radio and television; to promote collaboration among members, through conferences, publications, information exchanges, and research; to represent internationally

15943-728: The offerings of other networks such as the International Fact-Checking Network launched by the Poynter Institute in 2015 which seeks to outline the parameters of the field. Instagram has also created a way to potentially expose "fake news" that is posted on the site. After looking into the site, it seemed as more than a place for political memes, but a weaponized platform, instead of the creative space it used to be. Since that, Instagram has started to put warning labels on certain stories or posts if third-party fact checkers believe that false information

16092-676: The offices of OCIC and (since the 1970s for) Unda were also in Belgium, these contacts were easy and friendly. All three organizations were represented on the board of the Catholic Media Council in Aachen , Germany from 1977 to 1991. The bonds became closer later. In the 1970s and 1980, UCIP's president was the Belgian Louis Meerts (1937–2007). He was succeeded by Austrian Hanns Sassman and German Günther Mees. At

16241-626: The opinion that one religion is as good as another, which he saw as the basis for the argument for liberty of conscience. He saw it as the state's duty to curtail false, immoral doctrines, and so denounced freedom to publish indiscriminately. Owen Chadwick explains Gregory's perspective: "To provide legally that writers or speakers shall be free to promote what is not true or to utter words that declare that racial prejudice, or paederasty , or pornography, or adultery, or murder not to be sins, cannot be what God demands of any State". He stated, "Some are so carried away that they contentiously assert that

16390-469: The organisation's governing authorities. In its history, the publications were mostly in English and French but sometimes a number of editions were published in German and Spanish. It aimed a readership which were not only its members and church-related institutions but also the professional world, listeners, and viewers. In the 19th century, Catholic newspapers and magazines were founded in countries across

16539-498: The pair gained an audience on March 15, 1832, on condition that their political views should not be mentioned. The meeting was apparently cordial and uneventful. The leading conservative statesman Klemens von Metternich , whose Austrian troops guaranteed the stability of the Papal States , pressed for a condemnation. The Pope's advisors were convinced that if he said nothing, it would condone Lamennais's opinions. Mirari vos

16688-671: The participation and community amongst technical communicators and their audiences, clients, and stakeholders. The gaming community has grown exponentially, and about 63% have taken to playing with others, whether online or in-person. Players online will communicate through the system of microphone applicability either through the game or a third party application such as Discord . The improvements upon connectivity and software allowed for players online to keep in touch and game instantaneously, disregarding location almost entirely. With online gaming platforms it has been noted that they support diverse social gaming communities allowing players to feel

16837-1129: The period 1927–2011 : René Delforge (Belgium, 1927–1934); Count Giuseppe Dalla Torre (Italy, 1936–1960); Raimondo Manzini (Italy, 1960–1972); Louis Meerts (Belgium, 1972–1980); Hanns Sassman (Austria, 1980–1986); Günther Mees (Germany, 1992–1998); Theresa Ee Chooi (Malaysia, 1998–2011) Unda secretaries-general for the period 1928–2001 : Mgr. Bernhard Marschall (Germany, 1928–1935); P. John Dito (OP, The Netherlands, 1935–1938); M. Paul Andrien Speet (The Netherlands, 1938–1942); M. Joseph Diening (The Netherlands, 1942–1950); M. François Van Hoek (Switzerland, 1950–1952); P. John Dito (OP, The Netherlands, 1952–1953); P. Bonaventura Jansen (OP, The Netherlands, 1953–1954); Fr. Joseph Schneuwly (Switzerland, 1954–1971); Fr. John Stapleton (UK, 1971–1974); Fr. Jean Desautels (SJ, Canada, 1974–1981); Fr. Colm Murphy (Ireland, 1981–1994); Fr. Victor Sunderaj (India, 1994–1998); Fr. Pierre Bélanger (SJ, Canada, 1998–2001) Media (communication) The development of early writing and paper enabling longer-distance communication systems such as mail , including in

16986-412: The power of the media and their influence in all aspects of individual, community, and social life. Media education is seen as a movement from a critical awareness of the languages and techniques of the media, through analysis of the values they project and their influence on our lives, towards a responsible participation in the use of media for the betterment of the person and society. It is a way to enable

17135-483: The process of globalization, by deregulation and privatization of the media present new ethical and indeed spiritual challenges to those who work in social communications. These challenges will be met effectively by those who accept that serving the human person, building up a community grounded in solidarity, justice, and love, and speaking the truth about human life and its final fulfillment in God were, are, and will remain at

17284-569: The programme, and the selection and screening were controlled by the organizers, mostly priests. One of the Belgian pioneers was Abbé Abel Brohée , who was active in the Catholic Action Movement and began to bring order to these Catholic initiatives. By the 1920s, he was convinced that it was necessary to inform the public of the moral value of films. His aim was not to limit the action of Catholics to moral quotations. He wanted

17433-519: The radio world was waiting for the first international move of the churches to bring religion by means of radio to "humanity". This was put forward because in the Vatican, the Pope was interested to spread the Christian message to all over the earth. The Company of Guglielmo Marconi was already involved in building a radio to transmit the "voice of the Holy Father to almost every land". It became

17582-404: The release of films with particular Catholic interest or controversies (from The Da Vinci Code to Antichrist ). From the 1930s on, the Vatican began to have a closer interest in cinema. With the letter of Pius XI in 1936, Vigilanti Cura , the official teaching of the Church on cinema was positive (even though the document began 'With vigilant care'). Amongst the ideas put forward by Pius XI

17731-627: The representation of the organisation in the secular world such as UNESCO , Council of Europe , ECOSOC , and the United Nations , and the collaboration with the other international Catholic organisations such as Pax Christi or BICE . It was also mimeographed and produced in the office. In 1979, the new secretary-general Robert Molhant started again a quarterly magazine called first OCIC-Info in different language versions: French, English, and Spanish, illustrated and printed on their own printing machine – offset press in Brussels. First transforming

17880-468: The resistance to political and commercial interference in the autonomy of the media sector are both considered as significant components of media independence . In order to ensure media independence, regulatory authorities should be placed outside of governments' directives. This can be measured through legislation, agency statutes and rules. In the United States, the Radio Act of 1927 established that

18029-466: The secretariat found a home in a Catholic school also in Brussels, rue Saphir, where it got a whole wing of four floors and an enormous basement to its disposal. Catholic radio producers had realized by the mid-1920s that radio had become, like cinema, an important means of spreading ideas, and could therefore influence the views of millions and connect them to Christian values. Already in December 1923,

18178-766: The secretariat of the International Union of the Catholic Press (IUCP/UCIP) was based. At the annual meeting of the directors of the IUCP in Budapest in 1938, it was decided that the III Universal Congress of the Catholic Press would be held in Poland in September 1939, but it could not be held due to the outbreak of the Second World War . Finally, the congress was held in Rome in 1950 with, for

18327-773: The secular world including that of the modern media. As a fruit of the contemporary Catholic Action, UCIP was founded in Belgium in 1927. A year later, the Office Catholique Internationale du Cinéma (OCIC) came into being in The Netherlands, and the Bureau Catholic International de Radiodiffusion (BCIR) in Germany. In 1946, BCIR became the international professional Catholic association for radio and television, Unda. OCIC, Unda, and UCIP had similar objectives: to bring together Catholics already working as professionals in

18476-459: The service of integral human development, especially that of the youth in Africa who are the majority of the population in the continent. The SIGNIS-Africa President, Fr. Walter Ihejirika from Nigeria , affirmed that the Congress aimed at creating practical pathways for promoting the welfare of youth and children in the changing digital world. He stressed the need of building SIGNIS-Africa into

18625-526: The shadow of state regulation, and is conscious of the possibility of state intervention . In many countries in Central and Eastern Europe , self-regulatory structures seems to be lacking or have not historically been perceived as efficient and effective. The rise of satellite channels that delivered directly to viewers, or through cable or online systems, renders much larger the sphere of unregulated programing. There are, however, varying efforts to regulate

18774-504: The short range of voice: smoke signals , trail markers , and sculpture . In its modern application, the term media is relating to communication channels was first used by Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan , who stated in Counterblast (1954): "The media are not toys; they should not be in the hands of Mother Goose and Peter Pan executives. They can be entrusted only to new artists because they are art forms." By

18923-715: The situation in Belgium had become normal. In 1949, the International Film Review (English Edition) and Revue Internationale du Cinéma (French Edition) was launched under the direction of André Ruszkowski and published in Luxemburg. Later, a Spanish edition was published in Madrid Revista Internacional del Cine containing not the same articles as in its French and English edition. A German edition began at Trier in 1951. This important illustrated publication, directed after

19072-544: The still-existing Malaya Catholic Leader (MCL), published in Singapore. In 1930, the first Universal Congress of Catholic Journalists was organized in Brussels. The International Bureau of Catholic Journalists planned actions to train Catholic journalists to establish Catholic press agencies and to come up with ways to develop the Catholic Press Action. In 1935, Pius XI did set up a World Exposition of

19221-732: The structural causes of their emergence and proliferation. Facebook has created new buttons for users to report content they believe is false, following previous strategies aimed at countering hate speech and harassment online . These changes reflect broader transformations occurring among tech giants to increase their transparency. As indicated by the Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index, most large internet companies have reportedly become relatively more forthcoming in terms of their policies about transparency in regard to third party requests to remove or access content, especially in

19370-577: The terminology is this author's rather than the Pope's). In 1971, a fuller document on communications and media following the Second Vatican Council and its Declaration on Social Communications, Inter mirifica (1963), spoke about the spirituality dimensions to be found in cinema ( Communio et Progressio , 1971, nos 142–144). Dialogue was a significant feature of the writings of Paul VI, from his first Encyclical, Ecclesiam suam (His Church), 1964, to Evangelii nuntiandi (Announcing

19519-514: The theme: "The Media and the Challenge of Globalization." Congress delegates issued a statement in which they condemned terrorism as well as all acts of violence against innocent victims. They pleaded for dialogue, reconciliation, and peace. The meeting of reporters, editors, and professors of journalism and communication aimed to give "the opportunity to understand and analyze globalization in both its positive and negative effects." Two days before

19668-428: The three Catholic organizations for the press, cinema, and radio and TV (UCLAP, OCIC-AL, Unda-AL) had created a joint secretariat to cover all the media, but the rest of the world did not follow them. The 1980s saw the proliferation of video use, soon followed by rapid developments in information technology and the growth of digital media and the Internet . Between UCIP, Unda, and OCIC, there were always contacts. As

19817-449: The top forms of media that people use in the twenty-first century. The percent of people that use social media and social networking outlets rose dramatically from 5% in 2005 to 79% in 2019. Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , Tiktok , and Facebook are the most commonly used social media platforms. The average time that an individual spends on social media is 2.5 hours a day. This exponential increase of social media has additionally caused

19966-628: The twelfth World Congress of UCIP was held in Vienna, bringing together 350 participants. It was preceded by a meeting of about fifty delegates from so-called " Third World " countries. A major theme was the New World Order of Information and Communication (NOMIC). Its 18th World Congress was held in Paris at UNESCO Headquarters with some 1,000 Catholic journalists from all over the world together. Among about 400 members of UCIP's young journalist network who had their own convention three days before

20115-493: The understanding of how gaming and players can help advance scientific research via communication through games. A vBook is an eBook that is digital first media with embedded video , images , graphs , tables , text , and other useful media. E-Book An E-book combines reading and listening media interaction. It is compact and can store a large amount of data which has made them very popular in classrooms. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

20264-480: The war started in Belgium in May 1940, the publication didn't continue. It was picked up in November 1944 by Felix Morlion as "Les Formations de l'OCIC". "Bulletin of the OCIC – Office Catholique International du Cinema – International Catholic Office for Film Affairs – Continuation of the Bulletin" formerly published at 6 rue Traverstière, Brussels". Only a few issues were published and the last came out in 1947 when

20413-402: The world of the professional media, wanted to unite their efforts against the secularization of society and were thus working in the secular world. On the one hand, they were aware that the press and the new media of radio and cinema were contributing to secularization. On the other hand, they also believed that by engaging in these media, and above all the secular media, they could use them as

20562-410: The world. SIGNIS wants to build a world network of media educators and/or media education organizations – something which doesn't yet exist. The predecessors of SIGNIS, Unda and OCIC, had a very long tradition in this field. In the 1950s, for example; in 1954, the president of OCIC, Mons. Jean Bernard from Luxembourg was one of those who with UNESCO gave a decisive push which led to the foundation of

20711-554: The world. The first Catholic diocesan paper in the US, for example, was The Catholic Miscellany launched in Charleston, South Carolina , in 1822. In 1842, the first Catholic newspaper Le Propagateur Catholique in New Orleans , Louisiana was published in French. Before 1914, there were Catholic journalist associations in the United States (CPA). Other publications were founded by religious orders and by lay Catholics with

20860-565: Was able to survive controversy, articulate its aims and objectives, and establish itself as what might be called a 'consciousness organisation' within the Catholic Church. It did not set itself up as a censoring board (which many assume still when hearing that the Catholic church has a cinema organization). Later some of its members nationally or regionally were part of the work of the Bishops Conference, offering reviews, classifications, and advice which depended for its authority more on

21009-613: Was at that time, a new way of approaching film analysis. In 1948, the OCIC board members met the founder of filmology in Paris Gilbert Cohen-Séat at the Venice Film Festival. In 1973, through lack of funds, OCIC reverted to its bulletin OCIC Information published in French, Spanish, and English – which had then existed already more than twenty years. After an issue 0 published in July 1952, OCIC did launch at

21158-410: Was in collaboration in promoting exhibition, distribution, review, and critical writing on cinema. During canon Jean Bernard's presidency (1947–1972), the writing and reviews continued but the main development was the establishing of juries at international film festivals, in collaboration with the directors and boards of the festivals, beginning at the Brussels International film festival in 1947, and

21307-414: Was issued the following August, criticizing Lamennais's views without mentioning him by name. Gregory opened the letter with an explanation regarding his delay in issuing a general encyclical. The encyclical voiced support for Christian freedom, upheld the ecclesiastical supremacy of the papacy and raised concerns over too-close alliances between clergy and government. It denounced those who advocated

21456-463: Was one that would challenge philosophers and theologians, that cinema teaches the majority of men and women more effectively than abstract reasoning (no.23). Just over twenty years later, Pius XII issued the Encyclical letter Miranda prorsus (1957) where he urged his readers to learn how to understand and appreciate how film works. One might say that he is urging people to move on from being literate, literacy, to being visuate, visuacy (no. 57, though

21605-420: Was stated that one of the aims of the Catholic press was to become a trusted source of information for non-Catholics. In 1963, Pope John XXIII declared in his encyclical Pacem in terris ( Peace on Earth ) freedom of speech and publication to be a human right. One of the significant Congresses was the one held in 1965 in New York. It was UCIP's eighth Congress, held together with the 55th annual convention of

21754-512: Was supported by Prince Rainier III who, inspired by this event, created the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo three years later. Unda was asked to give a prize at this festival and this tradition has been carried on by SIGNIS. From 26 to 30 April 1954, Unda conducted an International Congress for Radio/TV specialists and professionals from thirty-two countries attended to talk about preaching via radio and television, family and radio and television (with Fr. Angnellus Andrew o.f.m, working for

21903-402: Was the Jesuit priest, known as Abbé Joseph Joye in Switzerland. Before the arrival of cinema, he projected images with a magic lantern for schoolchildren, and from 1902 on, he used cinema. Early film producers like Pathé Frères found also inspiration in the Bible and in religions. In early 1907, an American film magazine published that from a modest beginning six or seven years earlier

22052-460: Was the first time that a Pope appeared before a film camera and blessed it (and the spectators). Later when cinema became a regular and popular medium, Catholics, and above all the parish priests, reacted in two ways: condemning it or considering it as a tool of evangelisation with worldwide influence on families and, above all, on young audiences. In several countries worldwide, priests started to use cinema as part of their apostolate. Among them, there

22201-445: Was the fourth encyclical letter of Pope Gregory XVI and was issued in August 1832. Addressed to "All Patriarchs, Primates , Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World", it is general in its audience and scope, whereas his three earlier encyclicals had been addressed to more specific audiences in the Papal States and the Kingdom of Poland . Felicité de Lamennais , Charles de Montalembert and Henri Lacordaire had started

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