Papal bulls are official documents issued by the Pope, covering a range of situations, and are widely discussed. The term comes from the seal used to close the document, and the definition can be difficult to pin down. The Vatican Archives preserve many historical examples, including papal briefs and pontifical memoirs.
A papal bull is an official document issued by the Pope or his offices. Papal bulls can cover a wide range of situations, from excommunications to the canonizations of Catholic saints. The Vatican Archives preserve many historical examples of papal bulls, and their contents have been reprinted and published around the world. Since many followers of the Christian faith consider the Pope an important figure in their church, papal bulls are often widely discussed when they are issued.
The papacy has been issuing documents for centuries, and these documents have been referred to by a wide assortment of terms, depending on the era and their content. By the 6th century, popes were certainly issuing formal documents such as statutes, decrees, and patents that have retroactively been called “papal bulls,” although this term didn’t come into common usage until the 13th century.
The term comes from the device that is used to seal a traditional formal papal bull. The device is known as a “bulla”, related to the Latin word bullire, “to boil”, a reference to the bulla’s bubble-like shape. The bulla is traditionally made of metal and stamped with devices representing the current Pope and Church. It is connected to the papal bull with a silk or hemp cord; silk is traditionally used for papal bulls which are issued on happy occasions, such as a sanctification, while a hemp cord would be used for an excommunication order.
In time, “bulla” began to be used to refer to both seal and document, and the concept of papal bull was born. The exact definition of a papal bull can be difficult to pin down, as popes issue numerous formal documents while in office. In general, a bull is a document of extreme importance for society and the church, and can be identified both with a red stamp and with a traditional lead or gold bull.
A less formal papal document is the papal brief, a less formalized type of written communication from the Pope or the Vatican. The pontifical memoirs are also preserved in the Vatican Archives, as part of an ongoing mission to preserve the history of the Church and its officials. The Vatican Archives also hold a number of other interesting documents and works of art that are notoriously difficult to access, due to concerns about potential damage, theft or threats to the reputation of the Catholic Church.
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