Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

(1881–1963; reigned 1958–1963) issued eight papal

encyclical 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 (originally from ...

s during his five-year reign as

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. An encyclical is a letter issued by the pope that is usually addressed to Catholic

bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

in a particular area or of the whole world. Encyclicals may condemn errors, point out threats to faith and morals, exhort faithful practices or provide remedies for present and future dangers to the church. The authority of the encyclical varies depending on the circumstances on the content and is not necessarily infallible. The title of an encyclical is usually taken from its

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

(its first few words). Two of his encyclicals, ''

Mater et magistra ''Mater et magistra'' is the encyclical written by Pope John XXIII on the topic of "Christianity and Social Progress". It was promulgated on 15 May 1961. The title means "mother and teacher", referring to the role of the church. It describes a ...

'' and ''

Pacem in terris ''Pacem in terris'' () was a papal encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII on 11 April 1963 on the rights and obligations of individuals and of the state, as well as the proper relations between states. It emphasized human dignity and equality a ...

'', have been regarded as being especially important. John XXIII's first encyclical, ''

Ad Petri Cathedram ''Ad Petri Cathedram'' (; "To the Chair of Peter") was the first encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII on 29 June 1959. It was promulgated eight months into the pontificate and addresses truth, unity and peace in the spirit of charity. The docum ...

'', was issued eight months into his pontificate and was neither an important social document nor doctrinal exposition. Instead it looked at truth, unity and peace with distinctive familiarity and concern. The second, ''

Sacerdotii nostri primordia ''Sacerdotii nostri primordia'' ("From the beginning of our priesthood") was the second encyclical of Pope John XXIII, issued 1 August 1959. It commemorated the 100th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests. S ...

'', commemorated the one hundredth anniversary of the death of

John Vianney John Vianney (born Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney; 8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), venerated as Saint John Vianney, was a French Catholic priest who is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint and as the patron saint of parish priests. He is of ...

, while ''

Grata recordatio ''Grata recordatio'' ('With joyful recollection') was the third encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII, and was issued on 26 September 1959. It urges the use of the Rosary in the month of October following the tradition to do so by Pope Leo XIII. S ...

'' considered the use of the

Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

. ''

Princeps pastorum ''Princeps pastorum'' (Latin for 'Prince of the shepherds') is the title of an encyclical letter promulgated by Pope John XXIII on 28 November 1959. It is derived from a biblical passage: I Peter 5:4. In its English translation the letter opens ...

'', his fourth encyclical, used as its biblical text and celebrated Catholic missions. ''

'', the fifth encyclical, carried forward ideas from

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

's ''

Rerum novarum ''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pass ...

'' (1891), which had been issued 70 years earlier, as well as from

Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City from ...

's '' Quadragesimo anno'' (1931). It considers social ethics with its most important point being the application of

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

to the international community. It is one of the longest encyclicals, at more than 25,000 words. The sixth encyclical, ''

Aeterna Dei sapientia ''Aeterna Dei sapientia'' ("God's eternal wisdom") was the sixth encyclical made by Pope John XXIII, and was issued on 11 November 1961. It commemorates the fifteenth centennial of the death of Pope Leo I, also known as Saint Leo the Great and a ...

'', commemorated the death of

Pope Leo I Pope Leo I ( 400 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great, was bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death. Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history." Leo was ...

and called for unity within

Christendom Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...

from external movements such as

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

. The penultimate encyclical, ''

Paenitentiam agere ''Paenitentiam agere'' ("Penance for sins") was the seventh encyclical made by Pope John XXIII, and was issued on 1 July 1962. It calls on Christians to practice penance and considers the upcoming Second Vatican Council. See also *List of ency ...

'', considered penance and the then-upcoming

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. John XXIII's final encyclical, ''

'', was written two months before his death. It is long – at over 15,000 words – and was the first in history to have been addressed to "all men of good will", rather than only the clergy and laity of the church. It was hailed as "one of the most profound and significant documents of our age".

Encyclicals

References

External links

Vatican webpage for John XXIII
{{DEFAULTSORT:Encyclicals of Pope John 23, list of John 23 *Encyclicals