A pontifical academy is an academic honorary society established by or under the direction of the Holy See. Some were in existence well before they were accepted as "Pontifical."

There are ten Pontifical academies headquartered at the Vatican in Rome.

The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, an institution for the training of Catholic clergy to serve as apostolic nuncios, pro-nuncios or papal delegates, is not one of the pontifical academies, but is one of the Roman Colleges.