Quas Primas, by Pope Pius XI

This great encyclical by Pope Pius XI officially established the feast of Christ the King for the whole world. To be sure, all of the feasts of Jesus Christ have as their material objects the kingship of Christ, insofar as they require us to acknowledge His royal power; however, only this new feast has as its formal object the kingship of Christ, and thus it is a great day for those devoted precisely to that kingship.

However, until now the only translation of this encyclical commonly available is that on the Vatican's website. While this translation is not wrong — that is, it accurately reflects the meaning of the encyclical — it presents two problems. First, the distribution of that translation is legally problematic. The rights of all the materials on the Vatican website are uncertain, and the faithful should have a translation that they can freely distribute without fear of consequences. This translation serves as such. Second, the Vatican's translation, while accurate, is very loose; it is quite far from verbatim from the Latin text. While it is not misleading, it is important for the faithful to have English as close to the original cadence and rhythm of the Latin as possible, even if that makes the English a bit harder to follow. This translation serves as such, as well.

As for the original Latin text, it was taken directly from the Acta Apostolicæ Sedis as printed in 1925; its legal status is not in question.

We pray that this translation, and the original, will serve to enrich the faithful's devotion to the teaching of Christ the King.

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!