Q. Can you explain the difference between papal encyclicals and exhortations and letters and moto propios and such?
A. Even as technology has changed and advanced, popes continue to communicate with their flock via the written word just as St. Peter did.
These written communications take different forms and have different names that are meant to help the reader understand what sort of content they can expect as they read it.
The most well-known form is an encyclical. Encyclical simply means a circular letter, or a letter that is circulated throughout a community. Bishops throughout the early history of the Church made use of encyclicals to communicate with their people. It is only in the last few hundred years that the term encyclical has become so strongly associated with the papacy. Papal encyclicals are generally written to address some specific issue in the Church, such as Humane Vitae by Pope Paul VI, upholding the Church’s teaching on contraception in the face of popular errors of the time, or a more general theme, such as Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI, which reflects on the virtue of hope.
A logical question when reading any papal communication is ‘how authoritative is this?’ With papal encyclicals, the answer is ‘as authoritative as the Holy Father intends it to be.’ Just because something is in a papal encyclical does not mean it is intended to rise to the level of a dogma of the Catholic Church. Popes do not invent dogma. Rather, they remove error by declaring that a constant and universally held truth is indeed True and is to be believed with “divine and Catholic faith” (c. 750 §1).
Exhortations are messages of encouragement given by the pope in which he exhorts the faithful to some deeper practice of the faith or some action of charity. Generally, exhortations take the form of post-synodal apostolic exhortations. These are given after a synod and are usually a synthesis of the results of the findings of the bishops following a synod. Benedict XVI’s Verbum Domini following the Synod on the Word of God and Francis’s Amoris Laetitia following the Synod on the Family are examples. They are not legislative in nature, though they may signal that a legislative change is likely coming, but are the pope as father encouraging his children.
Apostolic constitutions are solemn declarations of the Holy Father that touch upon matters of great importance for the Universal Church. They are sometimes further designated as dogmatic constitutions so as to indicate that they are making a dogmatic statement. Ineffabilis Deus by Pius IX, defining the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, is an example of this.
Apostolic constitutions are more commonly used as legislative documents establishing or modifying the law of the Church. Universi Dominici gregis, which established the current laws for papal elections, and Pascite gregem Dei, which modified the penal law of the Catholic Church, are examples of this kind of apostolic constitution. They are absolutely binding on all Catholics.
Moto proprio (meaning on one’s own initiative) is not a type of papal communication per se but simply means that the Holy Father is acting unprompted by some external event or request. Apostolic letters are often issued moto proprio and are generally simply referred to as moto proprios. They are used to change ecclesiastic laws, grant favors or privileges, or be acts of internal Church administration. They are binding as they are intended to have some legal effect.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, vice chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
