Encyclical

Encyclical (literæ encyclicæ), a letter addressed by the pope to all his bishops, condemning current errors or advising the Christian people how to act in regard to great public questions. It differs from a Bull (q.v.) mainly in that the latter is usually more special in its destination. The famous encyclical, Quanta Cura, issued 8th December 1864 by Pius IX., was accompanied by a Syllabus condemning specifically eighty errors in religion, philosophy, and politics.