Editing Decretal (section)

==Definition and early history==
{{See also|Decree (Catholic canon law)}}
In a wider sense, the Latin term ''decretalis'' (in full: ''epistola decretalis'') signifies a pontifical letter containing a [[:wikt:decretum|decretum]], or [[Pope|pontifical]] decision.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Papal Decretals |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04670b.htm |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>

In a narrower sense, it denotes a decision on a matter of discipline.<ref name=":0" />

In the strictest sense of the word, it means a [[papal rescript]] (''rescriptum''), an answer of the pope when he has been appealed to or his advice has been sought on a matter of discipline.<ref name=":0" />

Papal decretals are therefore not necessarily general laws of the church, but frequently the pope ordered the recipient of his letter to communicate the papal answer to the ecclesiastical authorities of the district to which he belonged; and it was their duty then to act in conformity with that decree when analogous cases arose. It is generally stated that the most ancient decretal is the letter of [[Pope Siricius]] (384–398) to [[Himerius of Tarragona|Himerius]], [[Bishop of Tarragona]] in Spain, dating from 385; but it would seem that the document of the fourth century known as ''Canones Romanorum ad Gallos episcopos'' is simply an ''epistola decretalis'' of his predecessor, [[Pope Damasus I|Pope Damasus]] (366–384), addressed to the bishops of [[Gaul]]. The decretals ought to be carefully distinguished from the [[Canon (canon law)|canons]] of the councils; from  pontifical documents touching on Catholic doctrine, from the ''constitutiones'', or pontifical documents given ''[[motu proprio]]'' (documents issued by the pope without being asked or being consulted upon a subject).<ref name=":0" />

Finally, under the name "decretals" are known certain collections, containing especially, but not exclusively, pontifical decretals. These are the canonical collections of a later date than the [[Decretum of Gratian|''Decretum'' of Gratian]] (about 1150). The commentators on these collections are named ''decretalists'', in contradistinction to the ''[[decretists]]'', or those who commented upon the "Decretum" of Gratian. Eventually some of these collections received official recognition; they form what is now known as the ''[[Corpus Juris Canonici]]''. An account follows of the collections of decretals, particularly of those of [[Pope Gregory IX]].<ref name=":0" />

Decretals are known by the first two Latin words that begin the letter,<ref name=McGurk10/> called the [[incipit]].