Pope Adeodatus I was the first Pope to use an official Papal seal on documents and letters. Bullae is the name of the lead seal that the Pope would use to stamp his approval and over time this became known as the Papal bull. This was the only form of official communication from the Pope until the 14th century when the Papal briefs came into being. These were less formal and were stamped with the Pope’s ring(Ring of the Fisherman)in red ink. Encyclicals fall under Papal briefs. Papal Bulls have more to do with religious orders or properties. My wife asked if my Pope this week did anything cool. I told her he’s the first guy with a Papal stamp and she replied,”I said ‘cool’…”
Every Pope. Every week. 