Catholic Church and secularism promoters: cinema at the heart of a fierce battle (1895-1939) ; Eglise catholique et promoteurs de la laïcité : le cinéma au cœur d'une lutte acharnée (1895-1939)
As part of this book, which looks at relations between image and power, the real influential struggle that has taken place, around the cinema, the Church and the supporters of secularism in France, throughout the first half of the twentieth century, is particularly symptomatic of the media's recognised propaganda power, well before any totalitarian state took over it. But let's start with the actors involved in this influence struggle, and their relationship to the image at the time of the birth of the cinema at the end of the nineteenth century. First, the Catholic Church. The Catholic religion is characterised by an ambiguous relationship to the image, in opposition, for example, to Orthodox Christians. While Catholics fear divine representation, the image has always been used throughout history as a privileged educational vector. From the 19th century, the icon was thus used as a 'bible for illiteracy'. The technical advances that mark the history of the image have always been integrated into the range of teaching tools used in the work of catechsis: the magic lantern, the print shop and thus the filmmaker. Thus, as soon as it has been developed, the animated image is used for the teaching of catechism, with the full approval of the religious authorities 1: educational films are therefore produced, illustrating the bible episodes, in full continuity with the use of fixed screenings. The question is more challenging about the inclusion of projections in preaching, which some priests claim in order to attract faithful to the offices. Some Catholics approve and encourage them, such as George-Michel Coissac, who wrote in 1903, how many examples could we cite of priests who have, by this means alone, succeeded in making genuine spiritual resurrections in their parishes? 2. But many others are revolutionised by these methods and call for a decision by the ecclesiastical authorities in this area. This 1, however, does not rule out the possibility that the filmmaker, as a show, has been rejected by a number of ...