An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. The word comes from the

Late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...

(originally from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, a Latinization of Greek (), meaning "circular", "in a circle", or "all-round", also part of the origin of the word

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

). The term has been used by

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Anglicans and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

Catholic usage

Although the term "encyclical" originally simply meant a circulating letter, it acquired a more specific meaning within the context of the Catholic Church. In 1740,

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758.Antipope ...

wrote a letter titled ''Ubi primum'', which is generally regarded as the first encyclical. The term is now used almost exclusively for a kind of letter sent out by the pope. For the modern Roman Catholic Church, a papal encyclical is a specific category of papal document, a kind of

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

letter concerning Catholic doctrine, sent by the pope and usually addressed especially to patriarchs, primates, archbishops and bishops who are in communion with the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. The form of the address can vary widely and may concern bishops in a particular area, or designate a wider audience. Papal encyclicals usually take the form of a

papal brief A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull. History The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Marc ...

because of their more personal nature as opposed to the formal papal bull. They are usually written in

, and like most papal documents the title of the encyclical is usually taken from its first few words (its ''

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

'').

Papal use

In the encyclical ''

Humani generis ''Humani generis'' is a papal encyclical that Pope Pius XII promulgated on 12 August 1950 "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine". Theological opinions and doctrines known as ''Nouvelle Théolo ...

'',

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

held that papal encyclicals, even when they are of ordinary

magisterium The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the Word of God, "whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." According to the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Chur ...

, can nonetheless be sufficiently authoritative to end theological debate on a particular question: On social issues,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

promulgated the encyclical ''

Rerum novarum ''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pass ...

'' (1891), which was followed by '' Quadragesimo anno'' (1931) of Pius XI and ''

Centesimus annus ''Centesimus annus'' (Latin for "the hundredth year") is an encyclical which was written by Pope John Paul II in 1991 on the hundredth anniversary of ''Rerum novarum'', an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. It is part of a larger body o ...

'' (1991) of

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. Pope Pius XII issued ten encyclicals, mostly after 1945, three of them protesting against the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

invasion of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

which suppressed the Hungarian Revolution in 1956: ''

Datis nuperrime ''Datis nuperrime'' is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII dated 5 November 1956 concerning the Soviet invasion of Hungary to suppress the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. This is a second encyclical protesting the oppression of the Hungarian people. Pope ...

'', ''

Sertum laetitiae ''Sertum laetitiae'' (November 1, 1939) is an encyclical from Pope Pius XII to the Catholic Church of the United States of America in memory of the 150th anniversary of the installation of the first American bishop. The encyclical recalls Pope ...

'' and ''

Luctuosissimi eventus ''Luctuosissimi eventus'', issued October 28, 1956, is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII urging public prayers for peace and freedom for the people of Hungary. The Pope is "deeply moved by the sorrowful events which have befallen the people of Eas ...

''.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

published an encyclical ''

Humanae vitae ''Humanae vitae'' (Latin: ''Of Human Life'') is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and dated 25 July 1968. The text was issued at a Vatican press conference on 29 July. Subtitled ''On the Regulation of Birth'', it re-affirmed the teaching of ...

'' on the topic of

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

Anglican usage

Amongst

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

s the term ''encyclical'' was revived in the late 19th century. It is applied to circular letters issued by the English

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

Important Eastern Orthodox encyclicals

Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs The Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs is a letter issued in May 1848 by the four Eastern patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church, who met at Council in Constantinople. It was addressed to all Eastern Orthodox Christians, as a response against ...

(1848) * Patriarchal encyclical of 1895 * Patriarchal encyclical of 1920 * Patriarchal encyclical of 2012

References

Sources

* ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' (3rd. ed.), p. 545.

External links

List of papal documents at the Theology Library
a
GCatholicwww.papalencyclicals.net
texts of most of the encyclicals from recent centuries {{Authority control Christian literary genres