Jubilees and the Cinema (1950-2015)

This essay aims to investigate the relationship between Jubilees and cinema in the second half of the twentieth century, with a particular focus on four major events: the Jubilee of Pius XII in 1950, which could be considered the quintessential cinematic jubilee, the post-conciliar Jubilee of Paul VI in 1975, and the two Jubilees proclaimed by John Paul II in 1983 and 2000. These events, although very different from each other, represented a milestone in the evolving relationship between the Church and the mass media, amplifying Rome’s ability to put the papal throne in the spotlight, placing the pontiff at the apex of an information process that involved a large part of the Catholic community and enabled it to reach a wide and interested audience of faithful spectators in every corner of the world. The Jubilee of Mercy, proclaimed in 2015, represented the culmination of this legacy, marking a cultural and media revolution imposed on the Church by Pope Francis. This revolution also highlighted the Church’s renewed commitment to engaging with the new challenges posed by the evolving mass media.