Humanae vitae 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 the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and the rejection of artificial contraception. In formulating his teaching he explained why he did not accept the conclusions of the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control established by his predecessor, Pope John XXIII, a commission he himself had expanded.
Pope Paul VI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements. In January 1964, he flew to Jordan, the first time a reigning pontiff had left Italy in more than a century.
Dignitatis humanae is the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom. In the context of the council's stated intention "to develop the doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society", Dignitatis humanae spells out the church's support for the protection of religious liberty. It set the ground rules by which the church would relate to secular states.
Pope Pius VII was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again from 1814 to his death. Chiaramonti was also a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict in addition to being a well-known theologian and bishop.
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. The word comes from the Late Latin encyclios. The term has been used by Catholics, Anglicans and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Catholic social teaching has advanced 19 encyclicals.
Mystici Corporis Christi(The Mystical Body of Christ) is an encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII on 29 June 1943 during World War II. Its main topic is the Catholic Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
Ineffabilis Deus is an apostolic constitution by Pope Pius IX. It defines the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The document was promulgated on December 8, 1854, the date of the annual Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and followed from a positive response to the encyclical Ubi primum.
The Nouvelle théologie is an intellectual movement in Catholic theology that arose in the mid-20th century. It is best known for Pope John XXIII's endorsement of its closely-associated ressourcement idea, which shaped the events of the Second Vatican Council. It existed most notably among certain circles of French and German theologians.
The Vatican Publishing House is a publisher established by the Holy See in 1926. It is responsible for publishing official documents of the Roman Catholic Church, including Papal bulls, event records, and encyclicals, as well as certain Secret Archive documents. On 27 June 2015, Pope Francis decreed that the Vatican Publishing House would eventually be incorporated into a newly established Secretariat for Communications in the Roman Curia.
Auctorem fidei is a papal bull issued by Pius VI on 28 August, 1794 to condemn the tendency towards Gallicanism and Jansenist-tinged reforms of the Synod of Pistoia (1786).
Sertum laetitiae 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 theology of Pope Pius XII is reflected in his forty-one encyclicals, as well as speeches and nearly 1000 messages, during his almost 20-year pontificate. The encyclicals Mystici corporis and Mediator Dei advanced the understanding of membership and participation in the Catholic Church. The encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu began opening the door to historical-critical biblical studies. But his magisterium was far larger and is difficult to summarize. In numerous speeches Catholic teaching is related to various aspects of life, education, medicine, politics, war and peace, the life of saints, Mary, the mother of God, things eternal and temporal.
The Mariology of the popes is the theological study of the influence that the popes have had on the development, formulation and transformation of the Roman Catholic Church's doctrines and devotions relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mariological papal documents have been a major force that has shaped Roman Catholic Mariology over the centuries. Mariology is developed by theologians on the basis not only of Scripture and Tradition but also of the sensus fidei of the faithful as a whole, "from the bishops to the last of the faithful", and papal documents have recorded those developments, defining Marian dogmas, spreading doctrines and encouraging devotions within the Catholic Church.
Praedecessores nostros was a papal encyclical written by Pope Pius IX on March 25, 1847, to address the crisis of the Great Irish Famine that occurred approximately between 1845 and 1850. This event is known by many as the 19th century’s greatest natural disaster. Pope Pius IX was born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti on May 13, 1792, in Senigallia, Italy. He studied at the College of Volterra in Tuscany and was ordained as a priest in 1819. Throughout the span of his life, Pius IX served as the director of the Roman hospice of San Michele, Bishop of Imola, and Archbishop of Spoleto. He was made a Cardinal in 1840 and elected Pope in 1846. Several important events that occurred during the papacy of Pius IX are the unification of Italy, the First Vatican Council, the defining of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and 38 papal encyclicals. Praedecessores nostros is one of the more significant papal decrees of the time because it addresses one of the most well known events in history. The Great Irish Famine was caused by the mysterious fungus, Phytophthora infestans. The fact that the potato was the staple food of over half the population of Ireland caused approximately one million people to die as a consequence.
Mirae caritatis is an encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on the Holy Eucharist given on 28 May 1902. Its theme is mainly the marvelous effects of devotion to the Holy Eucharist in the moral and spiritual life of the faithful.
This is a list of the lists of encyclicals which have been promulgated by Popes of the Catholic Church.
