The Feast of Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King is celebrated this year on November 21. The Christ the King celebration was declared in 1925 by Pope Pius. In 1969 St. Pope Paul VI changed its title to Christ, King of the Universe to emphasize the eschatological (end of this world) nature of Christ’s dominion. Jesus himself told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world.  Here is a little of the proclamation by Pope Pius in 1925 establishing this feast day. 

This Kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things. . .  Christ by His own action confirms it. On many occasions, when the Jews and even the Apostles wrongly supposed that the Messiah would restore the liberties and the kingdom of Israel, He repelled and denied such a suggestion. When the populace thronged around Him in admiration and would have acclaimed Him King, He shrank from the honor and sought safety in flight. Before the Roman magistrate He declared that His Kingdom was not of this world. The Gospels present this kingdom as one which men prepare to enter by penance, and cannot actually enter except by faith and by baptism, which, though an external rite, signifies and produces an interior regeneration. This kingdom is opposed to none other than to that of Satan and to the power of darkness. It demands of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly things, and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after justice, and more than this, they must deny themselves and carry the cross.