Why Do We Celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King?
A guest post by Deacon Tracy Jamison
Pope Pius XI (1922-39) instituted the Solemnity of Christ the King in reaction to the political agenda of Mussolini (1922-43) and similar regimes around the world at that time. Pius XI had three major headaches in his pontificate: Liberalism, Communism, and Fascism. You might have seen the film For Greater Glory, about the Cristero War of 1926-1929. Inspired by Pope Pius XI’s encyclical, Quas Primas (1925), the Cristeros began to defend the natural and inalienable human right to religious freedom. Their battle cry was “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King!” Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, St José Sánchez del Río, and many others gave their lives for the freedom of Christ and his Church.
Mexico became a nation independent from Spain in 1821. Catholicism remained the official religion, but the State became increasingly Liberal and hostile to the Church. The secular Liberals took over Mexico in 1867 and suppressed the Church. This transformation was followed by the dictator Porfirio Diaz, who ruled until the Mexican Revolution in 1911 and instituted a policy of toleration toward the Church. But the new Constitution of 1917 again advanced secular Liberalism, and the Church was suppressed more than ever. President Plutarco Calles carried out the suppression ruthlessly from 1924 to 1928. There was a general revolt which included many Catholics and Los Cristeros. In 1929 a truce was declared between Church and State, but then Marxists soon began to promote their socialist agenda and suppress the Church yet again. Once in power, the Marxists severely restricted the Church. But in 1940 President Manuel Camacho put an end to the direct persecution of the Church and reinstituted a policy of toleration.
Benito Mussolini was one of the founders of modern Fascism. His mother was a faithful Catholic, but he lost his faith at a young age and became an atheist. Like Adolf Hitler, he became an admirer of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. On his 60th birthday, Mussolini received a gift from Hitler of a complete twenty-four volume set of the works of Nietzsche. Mussolini became an absolute dictator and attempted to convince Catholics to support Fascism. The Church attempted to cooperate with Mussolini at first, but he soon became very anticlerical and insisted that the State had authority over the Church. Pius XI consistently and repeatedly opposed Liberalism, Communism, and Fascism and defended the freedom of individuals, families, and religion. Political States are always fickle, and they rapidly switch from toleration to suppression, or vice versa, depending on who is in charge.
The political power of the State has been a major issue from the very beginning of the Church. Do Christ and his Church claim to have authority over the State? Is Christ a political rebel? Does he want to overthrow the government? Is he a threat? Does Christ want to be the king, the dictator, in a political regime? Does he have a political agenda? This is what Pilate wants to know when he asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate wants to know the political intentions of Christ. Gentiles like Pilate used the title “King of the Jews.” But Jewish people always spoke of the “King of Israel.” Pilate ordered that the title “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” be written on a plaque in three languages and placed on the cross above Jesus’ head. INRI is the Latin abbreviation. The use of the title indicates rebellion against the authority of Rome.
When Pius XI instituted the Solemnity of Christ the King, he asked that sermons be “preached to the people in every parish to teach them the meaning and the importance of this Feast, that they may so order their lives as to be worthy of faithful and obedient subjects of the divine King,” and he explained that the Kingship of Christ is founded upon the ineffable Hypostatic Union of his two natures in his one divine Person (Quas Primas #13, 29). We enter the Kingdom of God by Faith and Baptism. Baptism both signifies and produces an interior regeneration. By Baptism we are incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ. The Church is at once the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom has come and is coming. It is present even now in mystery. It is in the process of being actualized. Thus our Lord taught us to pray “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The Kingdom of God is the everlasting reign of Christ over the universe and all people. He created us and assumed our human nature, and he is our King.
Part of God’s creation rebelled against his rule and refused to do his will. The rebellion included mankind, so he became visible and asked us to accept his reign. Since Christ was born and came into this world, his Kingdom is now in this world. Christ came and asserted his right to rule the temporal order. His Kingdom is now in this world, but it does not belong to this world. “His Kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things” (Quas Primas #15). He does not establish his Reign by force or by fighting. It is not a Christian form of nationalism. The Kingdom of God must come to us voluntarily, and it comes only by faith in Christ.
Faith is a divine gift, and Christ enlightens everyone and inspires them to believe his word. He came to testify to the truth, and the truth is that he is our Creator and Redeemer. Christ is our Priest, Prophet, and King. We owe him our allegiance. On the Solemnity of Christ the King, we worship Christ under the formal aspect of his royal dignity and sovereign authority (Quas Primas #29). All the baptized participate in his threefold office and his mission. All the baptized are called to participate in sanctifying, teaching, and governing, but in many different ways. We are not all called to be ministerial priests or religious, but if we belong to truth, then we listen to the voice of Christ and proclaim his divine word. There is no other way to be in the Kingdom of God but to be listening to the voice of Christ and then obeying and professing his word.
Where is the voice of Christ heard? Through the Sacred Scriptures, through the Sacred Tradition, through the Sacred Liturgy, through the teaching authority of the Church, and in our own thoughts and desires if Christ reigns in our minds and hearts. We have a moral obligation to listen to him as he speaks to us and guides us. There are no contradictions in the voice of Christ. Our conscience must be formed in accord with the deposit of faith and morals. Faith undergoes a process of development in our hearts and becomes a mystical form of knowledge. The Kingdom of God will come at the end of time, but it is already present here and now in the Eucharist, in the Church, and in our hearts.
We must always remember that the Church is not subject to any external human power or political regime. “The Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the State.” The Church is “fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the Kingdom of Christ” (Quas Primas #31). Whenever and wherever the freedom of the Church is challenged or suppressed, we must publicly and boldly proclaim “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King!”
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