Papal Authority

Papal documents include rulings, announcements, decrees, exhortations, and other types of messages from the Pope. There are different types of documents, depending on the content, format, and intended audience.

Papal documents include:

• Apostolic Constitutions
• Encyclical Letters
• Apostolic Exhortations
• Motu Proprio
• Apostolic Letters
• Letters
• Decretals

Papal documents have been preserved in the Vatican Secret Archives since the thirteenth century.

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More information:    The Vatican   Catholic Encyclopedia   Wikipedia