Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index 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 Rerum Novarum (1891) Casti Connubii (1930) Quadragesimo Anno (1931) Mater et Magistra (1961) Pacem in Terris (1963) Humanae Vitae (1968) This is a stub. It needs more information. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.