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What’s an encyclical?
With the release of Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical, Laudato Si (“Be Praised”), this question is a particularly appropriate one. Generally, an encyclical is simply a letter written by the pope to a group of individuals for teaching purposes and for the well-being of the Church and the world as a whole.
Typically, encyclicals have been addressed to the bishops of the Church and meant to be disseminated and explained to the faithful within each diocese, but this far from a stringent requirement. Case in point, many recent encyclicals, including Pope Francis’ Lumen Fidei as well as Laudato Si are written instead to all members of the Church and all people of world, respectively.
The Catholic Encyclopedia includes this in its entry on encyclicals:
“Encyclicals addressed to the bishops of the world are generally concerned with matters which affect the welfare of the Church at large. They condemn some prevalent form of error, point out dangers which threaten faith or morals, exhort the faithful to constancy, or prescribe remedies for evils foreseen or already existent. Although it is only during the last three pontificates that the most important utterances of the Holy See have been given to the world in the shape of encyclicals”
So, even though it’ll take a few cups of coffee and perhaps a beer or two to read entirely in one sitting, I encourage anyone remotely interested to sit down and read Laudato Si, or any encyclical for that matter. They’re really quite good!
To download a free copy of Laudato Si, to read it online, or to order it in paperback, be sure to check out LaudatoSi.com.
