Fr. Maximilian had more than the press apostolate in mind, since he recommends the employment of “all conceivable means”, as long as they are not bad in themselves.
We must conquer the whole world for the Immaculata, and therefore we must use the most effective methods of all to do so. All methods, all the latest inventions, whether machines or operating systems, should serve first and foremost the sanctification of souls through the Immaculata. Therefore we should restrict our personal needs as much as possible and live an utterly poor life, yet use the most modern means. (RN 16 (1937), p. 354.)
All inventions must serve the Immaculata first, and only then other purposes. These media are: art, literature, theater,film, journalism, radio, etc. ( Conference, April 23, 193)
Fr. Maximilian was infuriated by the fact that all of these media were being left to the enemy. The reason for this is the weakness and laziness of good people.
Radio is one of the most important means for propagating the work of the M.I., in addition to film and television…. All of these inventions are in themselves good and should serve godly purposes first, and only later human purposes. Today that is reversed: these and other inventions are used for evil, and only then do we come along to apply them for a good cause. There is something wrong with that. We deserve censure if we allow others to leave us behind in this race to make use of inventions. (Conference, December 8, 1938.)
It is understandable why he insisted so much on the mass media, because it is precisely modern technology that is capable of reaching the masses in the shortest time. And in this area one should not economize.
We can live in barracks, but we must print the word that forms the human mind with the latest machines in the greatest possible quantity and make this literature readily available. (Quoted by J. Stemmler in the almanac RN 1948, p. 23)
People today live with the newspaper, radio, television, etc. The one who controls these media rules the world. The religious renewal through the Immaculata that affected millions of people between the two World Wars could only take place through the miracle of the distribution of the magazine, “Rycerz Niepokalanej”, which was founded in 1922 and at first had a circulation of 5,000; by the year 1939 the number of subscribers had reached one million.
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