According to Pastor bonus, Pope John Paul II's 1988 apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia, the council was "involved in questions regarding the means of social communication, so that, also by these means, human progress and the message of salvation may benefit secular culture and mores.
"[5] It worked "to encourage and support" the Church and its members in social communication to imbue mass media "with a human and Christian spirit."[5]: n.
[1][3] It was established by the Secretariat of State as the Pontifical Commission for the Study and Ecclesiastical Evaluation of Films on Religious or Moral Subjects and was renamed the Pontifical Commission for Educational and Religious Films later that year.
[1] The commission was renamed Pontifical Council for Social Communications and promoted to a dicastery of the Roman Curia in March 1989.
[2] The PCSC and its predecessor bodies have published a number of statements on various topics connected with social communications, including: In addition, the PCSC helped to draft John Paul II's 2005 apostolic letter The Rapid Development, on technological changes in the media.