Each year the Roman Catholic Church ends its liturgical year with a special feast dedicated to Christ the King. It is a relatively modern feast, as it was only instituted 100 years ago.
Increasingly dark world
In 1925, the world was in turmoil after World War I, with the increasing growth of secularism spreading throughout the world. Pope Pius XI sought to combat the darkness with an affirmation that Jesus Christ is the true king to whom we owe allegiance.
He did this by establishing a feast in honor of "Our Lord Jesus Christ the King," through his encyclical letter Quas Primas, published on December 11, 1925.
Pius XI explained that this new feast was instituted due to the requests of the people:
Since this Holy Year therefore has provided more than one opportunity to enhance the glory of the kingdom of Christ, we deem it in keeping with our Apostolic office to accede to the desire of many of the Cardinals, Bishops, and faithful, made known to Us both individually and collectively, by closing this Holy Year with the insertion into the Sacred Liturgy of a special feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He hoped this feast would be a light in the darkness:
We firmly hope, however, that the feast of the Kingship of Christ, which in future will be yearly observed, may hasten the return of society to our loving Savior. It would be the duty of Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result.
Place of the feast in the calendar
Initially this feast was to be celebrated at the end of October, near the feast of All Saints. After the Second Vatican Council, it was deemed more appropriate to move this to the end of the liturgical year, immediately prior to the beginning of Advent.
Pius XI did mention in his encyclical that having it near the end of the year was fitting, "it is at the end of the liturgical year, and thus the feast of the Kingship of Christ sets the crowning glory upon the mysteries of the life of Christ already commemorated during the year."
100 years later the feast of Christ the King remains an important part of the liturgical year and is a time to recall Jesus' kingship over us all, especially being the King of our Hearts and the true Sovereign over all society.
