Catholic canonical documents

A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both, i.e. the recognition and privileges of the Catholic Church in a particular country and with secular matters that affect church interests.

agreement between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V on September 23, 1122 near the city of Worms

thumb|upright=1.2|Decorated incipit page to the Gospel of Matthew, 1120–1140

decision taken on their own initiative by those who have the power or faculty

decree issued by the Roman Catholic Pope

official gazette of the Holy See

paper register of births, marriages and deaths in various offices

A rescript is a public government document. More formally, it is a document issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response to a question (usually legal) posed to the author. The word originates from replies issued by Roman emperors to such questions and is also used in modern legal terminology and the Papal curia.

Decretals () are letters of a pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church.

formal document emanating from the pope

Medieval canon law text

thumb|right|upright=1.2|An English property conveyance (a Fine of lands|final concord) in triplicate chirograph form, dating from 1303. The word cirographum can be seen written twice, vertically and horizontally, along both cuts. The two copies of the agreement at the top were intended for retention by the two parties to the transaction; while the third copy (the "foot of fine") was for retention by the court that oversaw the process.

Official document of the Catholic Church

former Vatican monthly publication

A positio (short for the Latin positio super virtutibus: "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to canonization as a saint.

letter authorizing Catholic ordination

12th- and 13th-century decretal collections