How did the encyclical Divino afflante spiritu change Catholic biblical studies?

In his 1943 encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu ("Inspired by the Divine Spirit"), Pope Pius XII significantly reinvigorated Catholic biblical scholarship by formally approving the limited use of modern methods of historical criticism in biblical studies.1

This marked a notable shift in the church's approach to scripture. Previously, the church had taken a restrictive stance toward such methods, particularly during the early 20th-century reaction against Modernism, when Pope Pius X condemned the application of certain historical and philosophical theories to religious texts and mandated that clergy take an anti-Modernist oath. By allowing scholars to employ modern critical tools, Divino afflante Spiritu helped move Catholic exegesis toward a more nuanced engagement with the historical and literary contexts of the biblical texts, fostering a new era of academic inquiry within the church.12