Inter Mirifica

Inter mirifica On the Means of Social Communication is a decree made by the council at Vatican II and it was promulgated on December 4, 1963 by Pope Paul VI. It is composed of 24 points, with the aim of addressing the concerns and problems of social communication. Inter mirifica identifies social communication as the press, cinema, television, and other similar types of communication interfaces. The title is taken from the opening lines of the document and means "among the wonderful".

The term social communications, apart from its more general use, has become the preferred term within documents of the Catholic Church for reference to media or mass media. It has the advantage, as a term, of wider connotation - all communication is social but not all communication is "mass". In effect, though, the two terms are used synonymously.

While Inter mirifica was one of the first decrees to reach a conclusion during Vatican II, the document itself went through many drafts, throughout its development. Over 70 drafts of Inter mirifica were prepared, yet out of all of these drafts, only 7 were ready for final approval from the Vatican Council. The first draft Schema of a constitution on the Means of Social Communications, combined with the other 6, were made into one volume by July 1962. This draft document consisted of an Introduction (nos 1-5), doctrines of the Church (6-33), the Apostolate of the Church in the field (34-48), the discipline and the ecclesiastical order (49-63), the different means of social communication (64-105), other means of Social Communication (106-111) and a conclusion (112-114). Although the discussion on Inter mirifica lasted for a short period (November 23–27, 1962), the document had a drastic change. The final draft was reduced to a quarter of its original content which contains an introductory section, two short chapters and a conclusion.

During the immediate aftermath, reception of the decree was fairly negative The document was heavily criticized for falling short of expectations, as well as failing to provide any new or different thoughts or instructions on social communications. These sentiments have been the long-standing memories of the document, with these sentiments continuing 40 years following the decree.

However, the document did provide the beginning stages for further Church instructions on social communications, with the further documents of Communio et Progressio and Aetatis Novae. Furthermore, from the document emerged World Social Communication Day, which was created by the Second Vatican Council to provide an annual message for the church to its people and the rest of the world.Pope John Paul II vigorously promoted responsibility and positive goals in Social Communication not only in person but through messages given on this religious festival and through supporting the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

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