Vatican Radio and Modern Society. Catholic Women in the Broadcasts of the 1950s

Abstract

In the light of the important means of apostolate, propaganda and diplomacy that Vatican Radio had played during the Second World War, the Holy See, at the suggestion of the General of the Society of Jesus Jean-Baptiste Janssens, in the ’50s, provided a technical strengthening and a reorganization of the station to keep up with the rapid social and cultural changes that followed rather quickly after the conflict. Thanks to the new documents relating to the pontificate of Pius XII, made available for consultation in March 2020, it was possible to reconstruct the stages that led to a complete renewal of Vatican Radio. In addition, it was possible to focus on the analysis of two broadcasts for the Italian program directed by women and addressed to women, Mondo femminile and Invito alla gioia, aired from 1956 to 1958. They constitute a case study useful for understanding the dynamics of radio propaganda on key aspects for the Catholic Church, such as the role of women in the family and work, and in general in sexual morality. Vatican Radio at the end of the ’50s was full-fledged an interpreter of the Holy See’s point of view on the modern world.