Definitions for "Encyclical"
Sent to many persons or places; intended for many, or for a whole order of men; general; circular; as, an encyclical letter of a council, of a bishop, or the pope.
An encyclical letter, esp. one from a pope.
A pastoral letter on an important matter addressed by the pope to the whole Church and even to the whole world. Among the most famous encyclicals have been Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum and Pope John XXIII's Pacem in Terris.