Editing Encyclical (section)

{{Short description|Doctrinal document in Christian churches}}
An '''encyclical''' was originally a [[Flyer (pamphlet)|circular]] letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient [[Christianity as the Roman state religion|Roman Church]]. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any [[bishop]]. The word comes from the [[Late Latin]] {{lang|la|encyclios}} (originally from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|encyclius}}, a Latinization of [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἐνκύκλιος}} ({{Transliteration|grc|enkyklios}}), meaning "circular", "in a circle", or "all-round", also part of the origin of the word [[encyclopedia]]).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rice|first=Doyle|date=16 June 2015|title=The papal encyclical: What is an 'encyclical'?|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/06/16/pope-francis-encyclical/28814437/|website=USA Today}}</ref> The term is now primarily associated with [[papal encyclicals]].

The term has been used by [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].