In light of some recent discussion about depiction of immorality in fiction, it is worth noting what the Second Vatican Council said in the Decree on the Media of Social Communications.
‘The narration, description or portrayal of moral evil … can indeed serve to bring about a deeper knowledge and study of humanity and, with the aid of appropriately heightened dramatic effects, can reveal and glorify the grand dimensions of truth and goodness.
‘Nevertheless, such presentations ought always to be subject to moral restraint, lest they work to the harm rather than the benefit of souls, particularly when there is question of treating matters which deserve reverent handling or which, given the baneful effect of original sin in men, could quite readily arouse base desires in them.’
And Pope John Paul II later wrote: ‘Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul or the most unsettling aspects of evil, artists give voice in a way to the universal desire for redemption.’
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