Encyclicals are papal circular letters addressed to the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church that are intended to summarise a pontiff’s thoughts on a particular aspect of Church life.
Some of them have gone down in history as significant landmarks in Church history.
Pope Leo XII in 1891 published “Rerum Novarum” in which he undertook to engage the Catholic Church in social issues, denouncing living conditions for the working class and encouraging workers to organise themselves into associations.
In 1914, Benedict XV denounced the horrors of World War I in “Ad beatissimi apostolorum principis” and Pius XI in “Mit brennender Sorge” in 1937 condemned Nazi racism.
In Paul VI’s “Humanae Vitae” in 1968, Paul VI condemned all forms of contraception, while John Paul II in “Evangelium Vitae” in 1995 called for opposition to laws legalising abortion and euthanasia.
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