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The Papal Bull
A bulla was originally a circular plate or boss of metal, so called from its resemblance in form to a bubble floating upon water (Latin bullire, to boil). In the course of time the term came to be applied to the leaden seals with which papal and royal documents were authenticated in the early Middle Ages, and by a further development, the name, from designating the seal, was eventually attached to the document itself. This did not happen before the thirteenth century and the name bull was only a popular term used almost promiscuously for all kinds of instruments which issued from the papal chancery. A much more precise acceptance has prevailed since the fifteenth century, and a bull has long stood in sharp contrast with certain other forms of papal documents. |
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– from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 – |
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Documents of the Council of Basel Ferrara Florence (1431–1445) — The Seventeenth Ecumenical Council by Catholic reckoning, but not an Ecumenical Council in the view of the Orthodox or the Oriental Orthodox:
Cantate Domino of Pope Eugene IV, 1441
| Documents following the Council of Basel–Ferrara–Florence and preceding the Council of Trent: |
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Papal Bull Execrabilis of Pope Pius II (* 18 October 1405, r. 19 August 1458 to his death in Ancona, then in the Papal States, on 14 August 1464), on Appealing to a Future Council, 18 January 1460. |
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Documents of the Council of Trent :
Documents of the First Vatican Council of Pope Pius IX (r. 16 June 1846 to 7 February 1878 †) — The Twentieth Ecumenical Council by Catholic reckoning, but not an Ecumenical Council in the view of the Orthodox or the Oriental Orthodox:
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Pastor Aeternus, 18 July 1870
| Documents following the First Vatican Council and preceding the Second: |
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Apostolic Letter Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae, of Pope Leo XIII on the Reunion of Christendom and the Union of Brest (effected between 12 June 1595 and 9 October 1596), 20 June 1894 |
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Allocution Si fuit in re, of Pope Leo XIII (r. 20 February 1878 to 20 July 1903 †), on the elevation to the Cardinalate of an Armenian Catholic bishop, 13 December 1880 |
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"As for ourselves, to say the truth we must confess that the very rememberance of the ancient glory and incomparable merits which the East can boast are to us inexpressibly sweet. There in fact were the cradle of human redemption and the first fruits of Christianity. From thence, as a stream of some royal river, were diffused over the West, the riches of inestimable blessings, derived to us from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While we ponder on these things, venerable brethren, in our mind we desire and long for nothing so much as to affect the restoration to all the East of the virtue and the grandeur of the past, and the more so because the signs, which in the development of human events appear from time to time give reason to hope that the orientals, moved by Divine Grace, may return to reconciliation with the Church of Rome, from whose bosom they have been for so many years separated."
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Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum, of Pope Leo XIII (r. 20 February 1878 to 20 July 1903 †), of revolutionary change or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor, 15 May 1891 |
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Encyclical Letter Orientalium Dignitas, of Pope Leo XIII (r. 20 February 1878 to 20 July 1903 †), of revolutionary change or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor, 15 May 1894 |
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Encyclical Letter Satis Cognitum, of Pope Leo XIII (r. 20 February 1878 to 20 July 1903 †) on the Unity of the Church, 29 June 1896 |
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Encyclical Letter Sapientiae Christianae, of Pope Leo XIII (r. 20 February 1878 to 20 July 1903 †) on Christians as Citizens, 29 June 1896 Christians are born for combat – christiani ad dimicationem nati |
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Encyclical Letter Vehementer Nos, of Pope Saint Pius X (r. 4 August 1903 to 20 August 1914 †) on the French law of Separation of Church and State, 11 February 1906 |
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Letter Ex Quo of Pope Saint Pius X (r. 4 August 1903 to 20 August 1914 †), refuting a published article of Prince Max which laid the blame for the Great Schism at the doorstep of the Popes themselves, 26 December 1910 |
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Not a pretty picture. Taking as his starting point and the framework for this own letter, an article written by a certain Prince Max, the sainted pope essentially denies, albeit in an entirely summary and declarative form, every argument advanced in that former article in support of the proposition that the "Big O" Orthodox were the aggrieved party in the Great Schism, that the Popes were wrong on a list of points, doctrinal and ecclesiological. That is, Pope Saint Pius X admits of no room for compromise, that the "Big C" Catholic side might be to blame, might be ever so slightly in error, on any point. For Pope Pius X the matter was simple. The separated brethren in the Orthodox Churches and in the Non-Chalcedonian/Oriental Orthodox are wrong on every point in dispute as well as in their knowledge and understanding of history, and so the unity of the Church required (and requires) that both families of Churches yield to Rome on every outstanding issue.
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Encyclical Letter Pascendi Dominici Gregis of Pope Saint Pius X (r. 4 August 1903 to 20 August 1914 †) on the Doctrines of the Modernists, 8 September 1907 |
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Encyclical Letter Mortalium Animos, of Pope Pius XI ( r. 6 February 1922 to 10 February 1939 †) on Religious Unity, 6 January 1928 |
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Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno of Pope Pius XI ( r. 6 February 1922 to 10 February 1939 †) , in the 40th Year, 15 May 1931 |
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| Documents of the Second Vatican Council — The Twent-First Ecumenical Council by Catholic reckoning, but not an Ecumenical Council in the view of the Orthodox or the Oriental Orthodox: |
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| The Four Constitutions on the Church from the council: |
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Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) |
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Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), 21 November 1964 |
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Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) |
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Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) |
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| The Three Declarations from the council: |
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Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate, 28 October 1965 |
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| The Nine Decrees from the council: |
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Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite), 21 November 1964 |
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Unitatis Redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism), 21 November 1964 |
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Christus Dominus (Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church), 28 October 1965 |
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Documents of Pope Paul VI:
Decree Christus Dominus Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, 28 October 1965
Documents of Pope John Paul II:
Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World, 22 November 1981
Apostolic Letter, Orientale Lumen, to mark the Centenary of the Orientalium Dignitas of Pope Leo XIII, 2 May 1995
Apostolic Letter for the Fourth Centenary of the Union of Brest, 12 November 1995
Apostolic Letter for the 350th Anniversary of the Union of Uzhorod, 18 April 1996
Apostolic Letter for the Third Centenary of the Union of the Greek-Catholic Church of Romania with the Church of Rome, 2 May 2000
Apostolic Letter for the 1700th Anniversary of the Baptism of the Armenian People, 2 February 2001
Encyclical Letter, Ut Unum Sint, on Commitment to Ecumenism, 25 May 1995]
Documents on Mariology:
Catholic Documents on Mariology
the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary as set forth by Pope Pius IX (r. 16 June 1846 to 7 February 1878 †) in his 1854 Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus
the Assumption of the Virgina Mary as set forth by Pope Pius XII (r. 2 March 1939 to 9 October 1958 †) in his 1950 Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus
Documents on Orthodox-Catholic Social and Economic Teaching:
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Encyclical Letter Vix Pervenit, of Pope Benedict XIV (r. 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758 †), On Usury and Other Dishonest Profit, 1 Novermber 1745 |
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Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum, of Pope Leo XIII (r. 20 February 1878 to 20 July 1903 †), of revolutionary change or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor, 15 May 1891 |
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Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno of Pope Pius XI ( r. 6 February 1922 to 10 February 1939 †) , in the 40th Year, 15 May 1931 |
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Documents of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church
Ravenna Agreed Statement, Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church
— Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority — 13 October 2007
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