encyclical

n. letter from the Pope

An encyclical was a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Christian church. At that time, the word could be used of a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from Latin encyclia (from the Greek "en kyklo, ") meaning "general" or "encircling", which is also the origin of the word "encyclopedia".
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. a letter from the pope sent to all Roman Catholic bishops throughout the world
(synonym) encyclical letter
(hypernym) letter, missive
Adjective
1. intended for wide distribution; "an encyclical letter"
(similar) distributed

(n.)
An encyclical letter, esp. one from a pope.
  

(a.)
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.
  

Synonyms and related words:
Pastoral Epistle, aerogram, air letter, airgraph, announcement, annunciation, billet-doux, bull, bulletin board, chain letter, circular, communique, dead letter, declaration, dimissorial, dimissory letter, drop letter, edict, enunciation, fan letter, form letter, letter of credit, letter of introduction, letters credential, letters of marque, letters of request, letters overt, letters patent, letters rogatory, love letter, manifesto, monitory, newsletter, nixie, notice, notification, open letter, pastoral letter, poison-pen letter, position paper, proclamation, program, programma, pronouncement, pronunciamento, public notice, report, round robin, statement, ukase, white book, white paper