Encyclical
Presently Encyclical means a letter sent by the Pope to all Roman Catholic bishops, usually a statement of policy or announcing a new initiative. Originally it was a letter or epistle for general circulation. The word comes from Latin "encyclia" meaning "general" or "encircling". It is also the origin of the word "encyclopedia" as in Wikipedia.
Important encyclicals
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.