Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

usage, an autograph letter is a letter signed by the

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 ...

in which he refers to himself as "I", or using the

majestic plural The royal ''we'', majestic plural (), or royal plural, is the use of a plural pronoun (or corresponding plural-inflected verb forms) used by a single person who is a monarch or holds a high office to refer to themselves. A more general term fo ...

, "we", as opposed to the more usual letter from the pope signed by a subordinate referring to the Pope as "he" and saying, for example, "The Holy Father has directed me to reply to your letter...

References

Holy See Documents of the Catholic Church Documents of the Roman Curia {{RC-document-stub