Church Documents - Priesthood

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Haerent Animo
Apostolic Exhortation to the Catholic Clergy on Priestly Sanctity
Pope Pius X
1908

Ad Catholici Sacerdotii (On the Catholic Priesthood)
Encyclical Letter
Pope Pius XI
1935

Menti Nostrae
Apostolic Exhortation on the Development of Holiness in Priestly Life 
Pope Pius XII
1950

Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia (From the Beginning of Our Priesthood)
Encyclical Letter to the Catholic Clergy on St. John Vianney 
Pope John XXIII
1959

Optatum Totius
Decree on Priestly Training 
Second Vatican Council
1965

Presbyterorum Ordinis 
Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests 
Second Vatican Council
1965

Sacerdotalis Coelibatus
Enclyclical Letter on the Celibacy of the Priest
Pope Paul VI
1976

Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give You Shepherds)
Apostolic Exhortation on the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day 
Pope John Paul II
1992

Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth)
Encyclical Letter Regarding Certain Fundamental Questions of the Church's Moral Teaching  
Pope John Paul II
1993

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
Apostolic Letter on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone 
Pope John Paul II
1994

Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason)
Encyclical Letter on the Relationship between Faith and Reason 
Pope John Paul II
1998