PONTIFICAL LETTERS. – A generic term used to indicate any kind of letters issued by the Roman Pontiff as the public person of the Church; the technical designation, used in the apostolic constitution Sapienti Consilio (29 June 1908, AAS, 1 [1909], p. 17), with reference to bulls and briefs, is Apostolic Letters. In ecclesiastical history, pontifical letters had various appellations.
I. LITTERAE HORTATORIAE OR MONITORIAE
Those that had an admonitory and exhortatory form, without any genuinely legislative content. The earliest surviving one is that of St. Clement; of the subsequent pontiffs—Soter (166–74), Eleutherus (174–89), Victor (189–99), Zephyrinus (199–217), Pontian (230–35), Lucius I (253–54), Stephen I (254–57), Sixtus II (257–58), and Dionysius (259–68)—only fragments survive. St. Hippolytus refers to the decree of Callistus (217–22; Philosophumena, 9), while St. Cyprian preserved two letters of St. Cornelius (251–53), and St. Athanasius, in the Apologia contra arianos, two letters of Julius I (337–52).II. LITTERAE PRAECEPTORIAE
Those in which the Pope manifested his legislative authority and which were subsequently called Decretales (v. DECRETALI).Because of this special significance, they were later called Auctoritates, since, by virtue of the primacy, the Pope possesses authority over the whole Church. Thus Zosimus, in his letter to the bishops of Gaul and Spain, writes: «quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est» (PL 20, 670). And in cod. Vat. Pal. 574 of the Vatican Library, containing the ancient Gallican collection, the Constitutions bear the title: Auctoritas Innocentii Papae, auctoritas Zosimi Papae. St. Leo the Great equates the Constitutions (that is, the letters) with the authorities (Ep. 19, chap. 1: PL 54, 733). At times these letters are called decreta by St. Leo (Ep. 11, chap. 4: ibid., 663), but this designation is used especially in the Register of St. Gregory, together with the names: Statutes, Canonical Statutes, Ecclesiastical Statutes, Rules, Ecclesiastical Constitutions.
III. EPISTOLAE PACIS
Those which the Roman Pontiff sent to bishops as proof of their identical communion in faith. If a bishop was suspected of heresy or was referred to Rome as such, in order to free himself from these accusations he had to send the Pontiff a letter attesting to the orthodoxy of his doctrine. If the Pope deemed this profession of faith sufficient, he sent him an epistola pacis. St. Leo the Great mentions only the title of such letters, but not their form (Ep., III, chap. 1, ibid., 1185).IV. EPISTOLAE SYNODICAE OR SYNODALES
Those which contain a profession of faith attesting the communion contain a profession of faith attesting the communion of doctrine between the Eastern and Western Churches. The first to speak of letters of this kind is St. Gregory: «Hinc est enim, ut, quoties in quatuor praecipuis sedibus antistites ordinantur, synodales sibi epistolae vicissim mittant, in quibus se sanctam Chalcedonensem synodum cum aliis generalibus synodis custodire fateantur» (Reg. Ep., IX, 147: ed. L. M. Hartmann, II, Berlin 1899, p. 144, lines 24–26). Elsewhere he compares the authority of the first four councils with that of the four Gospels: «sicut sancti Evangelii quatuor libros, sic quatuor concilia suscipere et venerari me fateor» (Reg. Ep., 1, 24, ed. cit., I, Berlin 1887, p. 36, lines 19). He also recalls the synodal letters of Ciriaco of Constantinople (ibid., 6, 62; 7, 24; 30; 31) and of Isacio of Jerusalem (ibid., 9, 28). Only some of these pontifical letters have survived to the present day; among the others, those of Anastasio II (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 746 [377]) and Pelagio I (ibid., 938 [618]) deserve mention. According to P. Ewald, this practice already existed in the time of Pelagio I. According to Philipps, these letters could also contain definitions concerning matters of faith. The letters of the pontiffs subsequently passed into the medieval collections.In the Middle Ages, pontifical letters acquired other designations: special mention should be made of the bull of the Crusade (v. CROCIATE, BOLLA della).
These forms of letters are also used in our own day. Since 1920, the bulls concerning the canonization of saints have been called «Decretal Letters» (Litterae decretales). At present, the letters that the Supreme Pontiff sends on the occasion of special anniversaries are designated by the name Epistolae; for example, for the centenary celebration of s. Antonio da Padova (AAS, 23 [1931], p. 71).
V. ENCICLICHE
These are the letters which the Pope, in the exercise of his ordinary and universal teaching office, addresses to all Christendom, for the advancement and safeguarding of the spiritual life.1. Origin. — Etymologically, the term derives from the Greek ἐν εὐαέλος (circle), that is, circular letter. They were used by princes to make their will known to the people, or by magistrates to promulgate laws. In the first centuries of the Church, such letters were sent by the Supreme Pontiffs and primates to the faithful in order to strengthen them in the faith; for this specific purpose they received the designation Clericae. Later, if they were addressed to all the faithful, they were called catholiche, «non quod de rebus ad catholicam Ecclesiam pertinentibus agerent, sed a voce καθόλος (universus) quod scilicet ad universos Christi fideles dirigebantur» (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., V, cap. 17). The latter had various forms: they were called denuntativae if they announced to all Christians the names of heretics and excommunicates; declarativae if, besides the names of the heretics and their error, they also contained a profession of faith; indicativae if, being used during the persecutions, they reported the names of the martyrs so that they might be honored by the faithful (Eusebius, ibid., IV, cap. 15, reports that of the Church of Smyrna concerning the martyrdom of s. Policarpo); paschales, in which the bishop of Rome announced the day of Easter; enthronisticae, the letters which newly elected bishops sent to the people. Eusebius (ibid., IV, cap. 23) recalls several catholic letters of Dionysius, bishop of Corinth. The collection of these episcopal letters was called Encyclia or Enkyclia: Pelagius II so informs us in one of his letters to the bishops of Istria. Only very late did the word “encyclical” acquire a specific meaning, referring solely to the most important communications which the Roman Pontiff addresses to all Christendom. In the Greek Church, even today, the letters which the Patriarch addresses to the entire patriarchate are called “encyclicals” when they concern matters relating to his own church and rite. In the Latin Church, the letters which the local Ordinaries address to their faithful are called exclusively “Pastoral Letters.”
The Anglicans, following Roman usage, apply the name encyclicals to the circular letters of the Primate of England; the letter of the bishops of Canterbury and York sent to their fellow bishops in response to Leo XIII’s letter Apostolicae curae (13 Sept. 1896), concerning the invalidity of Anglican ordinations, is designated by its opening words, Sapius officio.
Today, the letters which the Sacred Congregations address to all bishops on matters concerning the discipline or worship of the Church are not included under the name of encyclicals. Thus, the letter of 21 July 1899 from the Congregation of Rites, concerning the advancement of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and addressed to all the bishops of the world, bears the designation “circular letter.” The first pope to reserve this designation for a specific form of l. p. was Benedict XIV in the Ubi primum of 3 Dec. 1740 (Epistola encyclica et communitoria ad omnes episcopos). Subsequently, the word Communitoria ceased to be used. Perhaps, in giving this new designation, which was to be perpetuated in the future, the Pontiff had in mind Bencini’s pamphlet, published a few years earlier. In the eighteenth century and the first years of the nineteenth, encyclicals were very rare, whereas they multiplied in the period that followed and down to the present day.
2. Form. — They differ from other letters only in technical respects and in that they generally contain doctrinal teachings. They must therefore be regarded as simple apostolic letters addressed to the bishops of the whole world or only to those of a given nation. Thus, for example, Benedict XIV’s Vix pervenit (1 Nov. 1745), on usury and other dishonest gains, was addressed to the Italian bishops; Iam pridem nobis (1886) was addressed to the bishops of Prussia concerning the condition of the Church in Germany, and Permoti nos (1895) was addressed to the bishops of Belgium concerning the social question and the union of Catholics. At other times they are addressed directly to all the faithful. The following inscription is generally used: To the venerable brothers, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops and Bishops throughout the Catholic world who have grace (peace) and communion with the Apostolic See, followed by the Pope’s name and the words: Venerable brothers, greeting and apostolic blessing. They are usually written in Latin: this responsibility belongs to the Secretariat of Latin Letters and Briefs to Princes (apostolic constitution Sapienti consilio, 29 June 1908, III, 5: AAS, 1 [1909], p. 17; can. 264 CIC). More rarely they are written in the vernacular: Chiamati dalla divina provvidenza (1831) by Gregorio XVI; Vi è ben nato (1887), Dall'alto (1890), Au milieu (1892) by Leone XIII; Mit brennender Sorge (1937) and No es muy concordia (1937) by Pio XI. Today it is customary to add the title of the subject being treated. This generally concerns the universal Church and, in some cases, particular Churches; in the latter case, the letter is addressed to the Church concerned, although the decisions and principles may be applied, under the same conditions, to all the faithful.
3. Value. — Encyclicals, in general, do not contain ex cathedra definitions bearing the character of infallibility, but they often contain directives binding upon all the faithful, especially when the Pope condemns errors or summarizes the Church’s teaching on a particular subject. This binding force derives from the ordinary and universal magisterium, founded upon the primacy which the Roman Pontiff possesses over the whole Church; therefore, although the propositions are not infallible and definitive, they nevertheless possess a special authority because of the source from which they proceed. For infallibility, however, the form and external conditions of definitions are lacking, as is also the Pope’s intention to define.
4. Division. — Today it has become customary to group various encyclicals dealing with the same subject under a particular designation. The principal divisions are: dogmatic, which contain neither definitions nor juridical norms, but condemn errors beginning to spread within the Church; exhortatory, when they are addressed to the whole world so that, with renewed fervor, special favors may be implored from heaven.