Editing Pope Pius XII (section)

===Encyclicals, writings and speeches===
{{Main|List of encyclicals of Pope Pius XII|Magisterium of Pius XII}}
[[File:Our Lady of Good Counsel by Pasquale Sarullo.jpg|thumb|left|upright|In 1939 Pius XII placed his pontificate under the maternal care of ''[[Our Lady of Good Counsel]]'' and composed a prayer to her.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/olgc.html |title=Univ of Dayton |publisher=Campus.udayton.edu |date=30 July 2009 |access-date=12 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608103323/http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/olgc.html |archive-date=8 June 2010 }}</ref><ref>''This Saint's for You'' by Thomas J. Craughwell 2007; {{ISBN|1-59474-184-0}}; p. 172</ref> This 19th-century painting is by [[Pasquale Sarullo]].]]

Pius XII issued 41 [[encyclical]]s during his pontificate—more than all his successors in the past 50 years taken together—along with many other writings and speeches. The pontificate of Pius XII was the first in Vatican history that published papal speeches and addresses in [[vernacular]] language on a systematic basis. Until then, papal documents were issued mainly in [[Latin]] in ''[[Acta Apostolicae Sedis]]'' since 1909. Because of the novelty of it all, and a feared [[military occupation|occupation]] of the Vatican by the German [[Wehrmacht]], not all documents exist today. In 1944, a number of papal documents were burned or "walled in".<ref>Communication, Father Robert Graham, SJ, 10 November 1992</ref>

Several encyclicals addressed the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]. ''[[Orientalis Ecclesiae]]'' was issued in 1944 on the 15th centenary of the death of [[Cyril of Alexandria]], a saint common to [[Eastern Christianity]] and [[Latin]] Churches. Pius XII asks for prayer for better understanding and unification of the churches. ''[[Orientales omnes Ecclesias]]'', issued in 1945 on the 350th anniversary of the reunion, is a call to continued unity of the [[Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church]], threatened in its very existence by the authorities of the Soviet Union. ''[[Sempiternus Rex]]'' was issued in 1951 on the 1500th anniversary of the Ecumenical [[Council of Chalcedon]]. It included a call to oriental communities adhering to [[Miaphysite]] theology to return to the Catholic Church. ''Orientales Ecclesias'' was issued in 1952 and addressed to the Eastern Churches, protesting the continued [[Stalinist]] persecution of the church. Several [[Ecclesiastical letter#Letters of the popes in modern times|Apostolic Letter]]s were sent to the bishops in the East. On 13 May 1956, Pope Pius addressed all bishops of the Eastern Rite. Mary, the mother of God, was the subject of encyclical letters to the people of Russia in ''[[Fulgens corona]]'', as well as a papal letter to the people of Russia.<ref>''Orientalis Ecclesiae'', AAS, 1944, p. 129</ref><ref>''Orientales omnes Ecclesias'', AAS, 1946, pp. 33–63.</ref><ref>''Sempiternus Rex'', AAS, 1951, pp. 625–44.</ref><ref>''Orientales Ecclesias''. AAS, 1953, pp. 5–15.</ref><ref>Apostolic Letters to the bishops in the East. AAS, 1956, pp. 260–64.</ref><ref>''Fulgens corona'', AAS, 1953, pp. 577–93</ref><ref>Papal letter to the People of Russia, AAS, 1952, pp. 505–11.</ref>

Pius XII made two substantial interventions on the media. His 1955 discourse ''[[The Ideal Movie]]'', originally given in two parts to members of the Italian cinema industry, offered a "sophisticated analysis of the film industry and the role of cinema in modern society".<ref>Daniela Treveri Gennari, ''Post-War Italian Cinema: American Intervention, Vatican Interests'' (New York and London: Routledge, 2009), 22.</ref> Compared to his predecessor's teaching, the encyclical ''[[Miranda Prorsus]]'' (1957) shows a "high regard for the importance of cinema, television, and radio".<ref>Helmuth Rolfes, "Inter Mirifica and What Followed: The Second Vatican Council as the Beginning of a New Era in the Relationship Between the Church and the Media", in Helmuth Rolfes and Angela Ann Zukowski, eds., ''[[Communicatio Socialis]], Challenge of Theology and Ministry in the Church'', Festschrift for Franz-Josef Eilers (Kassel, Germany: Kassel University Press, 2007), 11.</ref>