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Information about Papal Bull

For specific bulls see List of papal bulls
A Papal bull is a special kind of patent or charter issued by a pope. It is named after the seal (bulla) that was appended to the end to authenticate it.
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Papal bull of Pope Urban VIII, 1637, sealed with a leaden bulla.
Papal bulls were originally issued by the pope for many kinds of communication of a public nature, but after the fifteenth century, only for the most formal or solemn of occasions. Modern scholars have retroactively used the term "bull" to describe any elaborate papal document issued in the form of a decree or privilege (solemn or simple), and to some less elaborate ones issued in the form of a letter. Popularly, the name is used for any papal document that contains a metal seal.

Papal bulls have been in use at least since the sixth century, but the term was not first used until around the middle of the thirteenth century and then only for internal un-official papal record keeping purposes; the term had become official by the fifteenth century, when one of the offices of the Papal chancery was named the "register of bulls" (registrum bullarum).

Today, the bull is the only written communication in which the pope will refer to himself as episcopus servus servorum Dei, meaning "Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God." For instance, Benedict XVI, when he issues a decree in bull form, will begin the document with Benedictus, Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei. While it used to always bear a metal seal, it now does so only on the most solemn occasions. It is today the most formal type of letters patent issued by the Vatican Chancery in the name of the pope.

Format

The bull's format began with one line in tall elongated letters containing three elements: the pope's name, the papal title episcopus servus servorum Dei, meaning 'bishop, servant of the servants of God', and the few Latin words that constituted the incipit from which the bull would also take its name for record keeping purposes, but which might not be directly indicative of the bull's purpose.

The body of the text had no specific conventions for its formatting; it was often very simple in layout. The closing section consisted of a short datum, mentioning the place it was issued, the day of the month and the year of the pope's pontificate and signatures, near which was attached the seal.

For the most solemn bulls, the pope would sign the document himself, in which case he used the formula Ego N. Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus (I, N., Bishop of the Catholic Church). Following the signature in this case would be an elaborate monogram, the signatures of any witnesses, and then the seal. Nowadays, a member of the Roman Curia signs the document on behalf of the Pope, usually the Cardinal Secretary of State, and thus the monogram is omitted.

The "bulla" (seal)

The most distinctive characteristic of a bull was the metal seal, which was usually made of lead, but on very solemn occasions was made of gold (as Byzantine imperial deeds often were). It depicted the founders of the Church of Rome, the apostles Peter and Paul, identified by the letters Sanctus PAulus and Sanctus PEtrus. The name of the issuing pope is on the reverse side. This was then attached to the document either by cords of hemp (in the case of letters of justice, and executory) or by red and yellow silk (in the case of letters of grace) that was looped through slits in the vellum of the document. Bulla is the name of this seal, which to ancient observers looked like a bubble floating on water: Latin bullire, "to boil".

Since the late eighteenth century, the lead bulla has been replaced with a red ink stamp of Saints Peter and Paul with the reigning pope's name encircling the picture, though very formal letters, e.g. the bull of John XXIII convoking the Second Vatican Council, still receive the lead seal.

Original papal bulls exist in quantity only after the eleventh century onward when the transition from fragile papyrus to the more durable parchment was made. None survives in entirety from before 819. Some original leaden seals, however, still survive from as early as the 6th century.

Content

In terms of content, the bull is simply the format in which a decree of the pope appears. Any subject may be treated in a bull, and many were and are, including statutory decrees, episcopal appointments, dispensations, excommunications, apostolic constitutions, canonizations and convocations. The bull was the exclusive letter format from the Vatican until the fourteenth century, when the Papal brief began to appear. The Papal brief is the less formal form of papal communication and is authenticated with a wax impression (now a red ink impression) of the Ring of the Fisherman. There has never been an exact distinction of usage between a bull and a brief, but nowadays most letters, including Papal encyclicals, are issued as briefs.

See also

Sources and external links

This is a very incomplete list of papal bulls by the year in which they were issued.

Year Bull Issuer Description
1059 In Nomine Domini Nicholas II Establishing cardinal-bishops as the sole electors of the pope
1079 Libertas ecclesiae Gregory VII
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Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation. The opposite of letters patent (Lat.
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The Pope (from Latin: papa, father;[1] from Greek πάπας (papas) = father - originally written πάππας (
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seal is an impression printed on, embossed upon, or affixed to a document (or any other object) in order to authenticate it, in lieu of or in addition to a signature. Only in the case of a dry seal
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A decree is an order made by a head of state or government and having the force of law. The particular term used for this concept may vary from country to country — the executive orders made by the president of the United States, for example, are decrees.
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privilege—etymologically "private law" or law relating to a specific individual—is a special entitlement or immunity granted by a government or other authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. A privilege can be revoked in some cases.
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The Chancery of Apostolic Briefs (also known as the Papal, Apostolic or Roman Chanc(ell)ery), is a former office of the Roman Curia, merged into the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs by Pope Pius X on June 29, 1908 with the apostolic
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Servus Servorum Dei is a Latin phrase meaning Servant of the Servants of God. This phrase is one of the titles of the Pope and is used to refer to the Pope in the beginning address of Papal bulls.

Pope St.
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Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation. The opposite of letters patent (Lat.
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Holy See

This article is part of the series:
Politics of the Vatican City

  • Pope
  • Benedict XVI
  • Roman Curia

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The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is its first few words or opening line. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits. Incipit comes from the Latin for "it begins".
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monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, and may be used as recognizable symbols or logos.
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Holy See

This article is part of the series:
Politics of the Vatican City

  • Pope
  • Benedict XVI
  • Roman Curia

..... Click the link for more information.
Holy See

This article is part of the series:
Politics of the Vatican City

  • Pope
  • Benedict XVI
  • Roman Curia

..... Click the link for more information.
2
(Amphoteric oxide)
Electronegativity 2.33 (scale Pauling)
Ionization energies
(more) 1st: 715.6 kJmol−1
2nd: 1450.5 kJmol−1
3rd: 3081.
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GOLD refers to one of the following:
  • GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade).
  • GOLD (parser) is an open source BNF parser.

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Church of Rome may refer to:
  • The Holy See, the diocese of the city of Rome to which the Pope is bishop
  • Roman Catholic Church, in post Protestant Reformation polemics
  • The Latin Rite of the Catholic Church

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Christianity

Foundations
Jesus Christ
Church Theology
New Covenant Supersessionism
Dispensationalism
Apostles Kingdom Gospel
History of Christianity Timeline
Bible
Old Testament New Testament
Books Canon Apocrypha
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Peter, also known as Saint Peter, Shimon "Keipha" Ben-Yonah/Bar-Yonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Keipha—original name Shimon or Simeon (Acts 15:14
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St. Paul the Apostle (Hebrew: שאול התרסי‎ Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning "Saul of Tarsus"), the "Apostle to the Gentiles"[1]
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Hemp (from Old English hænep, see cannabis (etymology)) is the common name for plants of the genus Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial (non-drug) use.
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Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture).
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Vellum (from the Old French Vélin, for "calfskin"[1]) is a sort of processed animal hide as a material for use in producing written works in the scroll, codex or book form in the pre-printing Age using joined pages, characterized by its thin, smooth, durable
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The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965.
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Papyrus is an early form of thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt.
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Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin. Its most common use is as the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is not tanned, but stretched, scraped, and dried under tension, creating a stiff white,
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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
780s  790s  800s  - 810s -  820s  830s  840s
816 817 818 - 819 - 820 821 822
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  • Dispensation is the act of distributing goods or services, especially those that are regulated, as in the practice of pharmacists.
  • In the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, a dispensation

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Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. The word literally means out of communion, or no longer in communion. In some churches, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group.
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