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| | encyclical. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05 |
 | | Unlike those in the papal bull, doctrinal statements in an encyclical are not necessarily regarded as infallible; the faithful, however, are bound to give assent. |
 | | Leo XIII issued a whole series of encyclicals reorienting Roman Catholic life in the modern world; among these are Aeterni Patris, 1879, on Thomistic philosophy, and Rerum novarum, 1891, concerning the social order. |
 | | Among the numerous encyclicals of Pius XII are Mystici corporis Christi, 1943, on the nature of the church, and Sacra virgintas, 1954, on evangelical chastity. |
| www.bartleby.com /65/en/encyclic.html (236 words) |
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