''Sanctissimus Dominus Noster'' ( en, Our Most Holy Lord) is a papal bull of

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

which was given on 13 March 1625.

Purpose

The document's main purpose was to regulate the Catholic faithful against giving devotion to deceased persons reputed to have died in holiness without the consent of the

Apostolic See An apostolic see is an episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus or to one of their close associates. In Catholicism the phrase, preceded by the definite article and usually capitalized, refers to the S ...

. The bull was also a foundational document in the history of the Catholic Church's process of

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

and

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

Highlights of the document

In ''Sanctissimus Dominus Noster'', Catholic faithful are told not to have images of deceased persons reputed to have died in holiness with halos, laurels and rays around their head. The bull also states that no one can print anything on alleged

private revelation Private revelation is, in Christian theology, a message from God which can come in a variety of types. Roman Catholic theology According to the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', public revelation was complete in New Testament times, but dep ...

s without the consent of the local bishop or the Apostolic See. Any violations of the bull would incur punishment.

Purpose

Highlights of the document

See also