Decretals (Epistolae decretales) is the name that is given in Canon Law to those letters of the pope which formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law.

They are generally given in answer to consultations, but are sometimes due to the initiative of the popes. These furnish, with the canons of the councils, the chief source of the legislation of the church, and form the greater part of the Corpus Juris.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.