ἐγκύκλιος
Encyclical
en-SIK-lih-kul
A formal circular letter from the pope, often addressed to the whole Church or the world, on a matter of doctrine, morals or social teaching; usually named from its opening Latin words.
circular; going around
An encyclical is a circular letter: in the early Church, bishops circulated letters among the churches, and the modern papal encyclical is the pope's principal way of teaching the whole Church on a subject. Encyclicals are known by their opening Latin words — Rerum Novarum (1891) on labour, Humanae Vitae (1968) on married love, Laudato Si' (2015) on care for creation. They are ordinary papal magisterium, not ex cathedra definitions, and call for the religious submission of mind and will appropriate to authentic papal teaching. Other papal documents include apostolic constitutions, apostolic exhortations and motu proprios.
Sources
Church teaching
- Humani Generis · Pius XIIPius XII, encyclical Humani Generis (12 August 1950), n. 20, on the assent owed to papal teaching in encyclicals.
Sources checked 29 September 2026