adjective. Intended for general or wide circulation.

noun. A papal letter addressed to the bishops of the Church or to the hierarchy of a particular country.

noun. A papal letter delivered to Bishops in the Roman Catholic Church.

adjective. Intended for general circulation.

adjective. intended for wide distribution

noun. a letter from the pope sent to all Roman Catholic bishops throughout the world

"In the early centuries the term encyclical was applied, not only to papal letters, but to certain letters emanating from bishops or archbishops and directed to their own flocks or to other bishops."

distributed  

letter  missive  

cyclical  

allograft  bankers'  better-known  cease-and-desist  closely-written  

Pastoral Epistle  aerogram  air letter  airgraph  announcement