Encyclical MP3

HERE’S THE NEW ENCYCLICAL–DEUS CARITAS EST–IN MP3 FORMAT.

It’s about 17 meg in size and takes just over and hour and a half to listen to.

This is just a rough-n-ready adaptation of the encyclical to audio format. I didn’t have time to do a lot of tweaking to smooth things out, so there may be infelicities here and there. I did tweak a few things, though.

(Y’know, we’re really living in the future now. B16 issues an encyclical and in an incredibly short space of time it’s flashed all over the globe electronically and then in a couple of minutes–much less time that it takes to read it aloud–it’s read by an artificial voice and flashed back across the globe for anyone who wants to listen to it. B16’s predecessor B15 would have been stunned at this unimaginability. "These are the days of miracle and wonder.")

For this version of the file, I tried to remove listening distractions by stripping out the section numbers, footnotes, and scripture citations in parentheses (e.g., "1 Jn 1:4").

I also tried to tweak the artificial voice’s pronunciation of certain key Greek and Latin words in the encyclical (agape, caritas), but when the text uses a longer phrase in Latin, the results may not always be felicitous.

As a tip to how to use this mp3, you may want to have the encyclical on the screen in front of you–or a print copy–as you listen to the mp3. I often find that this dual audio/visual reinforcement makes it easier for me to assimilate texts. The voice pulls me along so I don’t get bogged down and distracted, and the visual reading experience helps me focus on what the voice is saying.

DOWNLOAD THE TEXT OF THE ENCYCLICAL HERE.

It’s also available HERE (.doc) and HERE [WARNING! Evil file format! (.pdf)]

Special thanks to the folks at ReapTeam.Org for hosting the mp3.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THEIR SITE.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

20 thoughts on “Encyclical MP3”

  2. The MP3 is, indeed, a bit “buggy”. The voice reads straight through the “:” as if they were merely spaces, and reads “real-ism” as “real i.s.m.”. Other than that (and the wreched pronunciations of Greek and Latin words), it’s a neat tool. Thanks for the link – is it available for any other encyclicals (I’m thinking “podcasts”…)?

  3. I’d also like ot know if there are podcasts of other encyclicals, kind of an “encyclicals on tape/CD” to listen to during a morning/evening commute.
    I listen to the rosary sometimes on my ride to/from work, and it definitely helps me deal with traffic much better than I might otherwise.
    “These are the days of miracle and wonder.”
    This is a long-distance call.
    The way the camera follows us in slow-mo.
    The way we look to a star, oh yeah.

  4. The way we look to a distant constellation
    That’s dying in a corner of the sky.
    These are the days of miracle and wonder and
    Don’t cry, baby, don’t cry, don’t cry.

  5. What are you using to make the mp3 again?
    TextAloud from NextUp.Com with ATT Natural Voice Mike.

  6. I’d also like ot know if there are podcasts of other encyclicals, kind of an “encyclicals on tape/CD” to listen to during a morning/evening commute.
    When JP2 died I did some work on a project of that nature but haven’t been able to complete it yet. I’ve switched computers since then but I should be able to retrieve the files I had, which a code gentleman very generously assisted me with massaging the junk out of them (like I did on B16’s encyclical myself). I’d need to review the quality of the text files, but it would be possible to convert them over to mp3 and make them available if there was interest.
    I also have a few select other Vatican documents that I listen to in mp3, though I’d want to clean up the text files on those and re-do them before making them public.

  7. Benedict’s First Encyclical: God Is Love

    [UPDATE: 3pm CST – Jimmy Akin has it in MP3 audio format!]
    It’s out!
    DEUS CARITAS EST (God is love).
    NOTE: I plan to read this, digest it, and hopefully have something insightful to post tomorrow.
    (original post: 7:46am CST)…

  8. A few friends and I are thinking of serializing an encyclical in a format suitable for audio and video podcasting.
    Still talking about it with a few folks, will post here when we’ve made enough progress to discuss.
    Probably will start with Deus Caritas Est and work back. Perhaps Salvifici Doloris next?

  9. and to be very clear, if we do this it’ll be just the normal free podcasts. I’ve personally grown more and more interested in this body of teaching, love audiobooks, and have been wondering about this possibility recently.
    If somebody else is doing it already that’d be great, we’ll just move on to other content, but if not maybe this would be of some help.

  10. I would say great minds think alike, but I will go with Great and lesser minds (myself) think alike since the first thing I did was to convert it to mp3 using the same AT&T Natural Voice that you used.

  11. Oh, how we can count on the New York Times to provide an article without a hint of bias. Here’s how their article on the encyclical begins:
    “Pope Benedict XVI issued an erudite meditation on love and charity on Wednesday in a long-awaited first encyclical that presented Roman Catholicism’s potential for good rather than imposing firm, potentially divisive rules for orthodoxy.”
    That darn divisive orthodoxy…
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/international/europe/26pope.html?ex=1138856400&en=99716807c00474da&ei=5053&partner=NYTHEADLINES_INTL

  12. I’ve been reading it in my own voice. You can catch the first two parts on my podcast over at marialectrix.blogspot.com, or you can just go get it over at archive.org. I hope to have the rest of Part I up today, and the whole thing up by tomorrow.
    Funny that so many of us want to hear it rather than read it. But honestly, it’s a wonderful text for reading out loud. I doubt I read it like the Pope would, though; I keep getting really excited, which isn’t very academic!

  13. I forgot to say that I don’t particularly plan to podcast any other encyclicals. But if somebody else wants to do it, I am all for it. John Paul II put out a lot of stuff, and Humanae Vitae (sp?) has turned out to be really important, and the list really goes on and on.
    So let me know if you decide to do this, Mr. Lozano. And do consider putting the podcasts up on archive.org, if you do. All kinds of people would probably be interested, and not all necessarily Catholics.

  14. Maureen, thanks a million. I got an Ipod for Christmas from my employers and I’d love to listen to the encyclical on the bus to work these early dark Northern mornings.

  15. Hee-hee! I’ve been listening to the MP3 today, and I think it’s really helpful. But now (on a second listening) the mechanical, unembodied voice is reading the part about the unity of body and soul–and it sounds really hilarious.
    I’m not complaining,just giggling.

  16. Jimmy,
    One day, please explain why (.pdf) format is evil. It’s free, it works, and it is very convenient…..

  19. One more comment —
    I’ve gotten feedback from folks this weekend saying they’d really like to hear more encyclical podcasts. I’m still not interested in doing this; I just don’t think it’s my gig. But if Mr. Lozano wants to do it, I’d say he’s definitely got an audience waiting for him.

  20. So sad I just went looking for Pope Benedict’s encyclical in MP3 and it has been removed both from Jimmy’s link and Maureen’s website.

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