The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – November 24, 2024
Seven years after World War I, Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King. Earlier that year, Adolf Hitler published Mein Kampf, and less than 15 years later, the Nazis invaded Poland, beginning World War II.
Inaugurating this feast, Pius XI wrote: “[T]hese manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; . . . as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations” (Quas Prima 1).
The combative, conquering language surrounding the origins and renewed context for this feast seems out of step with Jesus, who rejected the violence of earthly empires.
In 2013, the United States bishops began using this day to rally for the protection of religious liberty, saying that Pius XI “had the foresight to realize that secularism could soon wage awful wars against the Church” (USCCB bulletin insert).
The combative, conquering language surrounding the origins and renewed context for this feast seems out of step with Jesus, who rejected the violence of earthly empires—“If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting. . . . As it is, my kingdom is not here”—(Year B), invited criminals into Paradise (Year C), and stood with the least among us (Year C). Christ establishes peace with peace and reigns over all by his own submission. Should we not do the same?
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