Quas Primas

Preface

The English edition which the reader is holding was prepared for two reasons. First, the English on the Vatican website has uncertain rights; international copyright law is confusing and multifaceted, and the Christian faithful should have a vernacular edition with clear and free rights. Second, the English on the Vatican website is not literally from the Latin; it is a true translation — it does not deceive the faithful — but it is not exact. The translator wants this edition to be an exact English edition, even if it makes the text more difficult than native texts might be; the words of Pius XI are important enough that their exact meaning should be available to all the Christian faithful.

The Latin text from the Acta Apostolicæ Sedis, printed in 1925, is placed in this little book exactly; however, “ae” was replaced with “æ”, and consonantal “i” was replaced with “j”.

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Quas Primas

Those first encyclical letters which We had given to all the bishops of sacred things after the beginning of Our pontificate — when We followed up on the most important causes of those calamities by which We see the human race harmed and pressed — We remember that in them We indicated openly not only the way in which the muck of evil has invaded the world because the majority of men have moved away from Jesus Christ and from His most holy law, in their own life and custom, and morever in their domestic arrangements and their republics. But We also indicated that a certain hope of abiding peace among peoples can never shine forth, as long as each man and state refuses and rejects the rule of our Savior. Therefore, We advise that “the peace of Christ” must be sought “in the kingdom of Christ”; thus We, as much We could, have taught to those who will lead: We say “in the kingdom of Christ”, of course, because it seems to Us that striving to reestablish and stabilize peace cannot be more efficaciously done than by restoring the rule of Our Lord. Those enthusiasms of peoples, either turned at first or more sharply excited later, moved for us an expectation, by no means hidden, of better times for Christ and for His Church, the one author of salvation; for it even appeared that those of the many who, by contempt for the rule of the Redeemer, had been made like exiles from the kingdom, were prepared for and hastened to a return to the duty of obedience.

But at the turning of the Holy Year, were not many things said and done that were worthy of being recorded and remembered forever, for the honor and glory of the Founder of the Church, the Lord and High King? Indeed, We publicly displayed the works of the holy missions, works done constantly and given by the Church for the kingdom of her Spouse every day, in all the countries and islands, even in the remotest oceans, and in which a great number of regions have been joined to the Catholic name and subjected to our kind, salvific King by the strong, unconquered missionaries with a great deal of sweat and blood. Furthermore, however, many came into the City from many places during this sacred time, led by their bishops or priests; and what was their purpose, unless that, their souls having been cleansed by the rite, they might profess themselves, at the tombs of the Apostles and before Us, to be in and to remain in the empire of Christ? But also, the kingdom of our Savior seemed to shine with a certain new light, when We ourselves decreed to six confessors and virgins the honor of heavenly sainthood, by approved praise of their outstanding virtues. O how much joy, how much comfort entered into Our heart, when, in the majesty of the Petrine temple, after extensive and definitive sayings from Us, it was shouted out together by the huge multitude of the faithful within the act of thanks: “Thou art the King of glory, O Christ”. For while men and states are separate from God, moved by the fanned, inward flames of hatred, they work destruction and ruin; the spiritual Church of God, proceeding to bestow the food of life on the human race, bears and feeds the most holy progeny of men and women for Christ, Who does not stop calling to the eternal blessedness of the heavenly kingdom those whom He had as faithful and obedient subjects in the earthly kingdom. Thereafter, We gladly commanded that the great Jubilee of the sixteen hundredth anniversary of the Council of Nicea be celebrated, and We ourselves commemorated it in the Vatican Basilica, for that Synod confirmed the consubstantiality of the Only-Begotten with the Father, and proposed it to be believed with Catholic faith; and likewise, by inserting the words “of His kingdom there will be no end” into its formula or Credo of faith, it affirmed the regal dignity of Christ.

Since, therefore, this holy year has the chance of illustrating the kingdom of Christ, it seems agreeable to the Apostolic office if, by the prayers of many Cardinals and faithful bishops brought to Us both individually and in community, We grant that We close this very year by introducing a special feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King into the Church's liturgy. For what cause it pleases Us to do this, Venerable Brethren, We wish to speak a little to you; afterwards it will be your office to apply whatever We will say about worshipping Christ the King to the popular understanding and sense, such that, understanding the annual celebration of the solemnities, the many may receive it and follow its usefulness in the future.

Christ is called “king” according to the highest grade of excellence of the meaning of the word, in which He excels and shines forth among all created things; this use of the word is common and longstanding. For it happens thus, that He is said to reign “in the minds of men”, not because of the sharpness of His mind or the greatness of His knowledge, but because He is Truth, and it is necessary that mortal men draw, and obediently receive, the truth from Him; again, “in the wills of men”, because not only does His perfect human soundness and obedience respond to the holiness of the divine will within Him, but He also submits it, by His own inspiration and motion, to our free will, whence we each are inflamed to the noblest things. Finally, Christ is known as “the king of hearts” because of His “charity… which surpasseth all knowledge” [Eph. 3:19.] and His kindness and gentleness drawing souls; for neither has anyone from the whole species been loved or will be loved as Christ Jesus is loved. Let us enter even more firmly into the truth: everyone can see that both the name and power of the king, in the proper meaning of the word, must be claimed for Christ the man; for unless man does so, Christ is unable to be said to have received “power, and glory, and a kingdom” [Dan. 7:13–14.] from the Father, since the Word of God, which is of the same substance as the Father, cannot hold anything except in common with the Father, including the highest and most absolute rule over all created things.

Do we not read everywhere in the Sacred Scriptures that Christ is King? For it is said that a ruler will rise out of Jacob, [Num. 24:19.] who has been established by the Father as King over Zion, His holy mountain, and that He will receive the nations as His inheritance and the ends of the earth as His possession [Ps. 2.]; and in the wedding song, in which the true King of Israel, Who was to come, is celebrated under the species and likeness of the richest and most powerful king, we have this written: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.” [Ps. 44.] And we see much of that type in another place, in which it is foretold that His kingdom will enrich the gifts of justice and peace, encompassing everything with no end, as if for the very purpose of sketching out more clearly the lines of Christ: “In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace… And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” [Ps. 71.] The oracles of the prophets approached this, or more fruitful things, in the first wanderings of Isaiah: “For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever.” [Isaiah 9:6–7.] And certainly the other prophets prophesy by this statement of Isaiah: Jeremiah, predicting that “a just branch” must rise from the line of David, who indeed is the son of David, “and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” [Jeremiah 23:5.]; as Daniel, who foretold that the kingdom of heaven will be set up by God, which “shall never be destroyed… and itself shall stand for ever,” [Dan. 2:44.] and not long after says, “I beheld therefore in a vision of the night, and lo, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.” [Dan. 7:13–14.] And Zachariah predicted the gentleness of the King, who, “riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass,” into Jerusalem, “the just and saviour” would go into the eager crowds [Zach. 9:9.]; did not the holy writers of the Gospels know and approve this prediction as fulfilled? This same doctrine of Christ the King in other respects, which we can skim from the records of the books of the Old Testament, does not vanish as if absent in the pages of the New, but on the contrary is magnificently and splendidly confirmed. Indeed, let us slightly touch on the announcement of the Archangel, by which the Virgin is taught that she would bear the son, to Whom the Lord God will give the seat of David, His father, and Who will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end [Luc 1:32–33.]; Christ Himself gives evidence of His own rule: for if He spoke about gifts or punishments in His later message to the people, which He will be forever justly making, or if He answered the Roman governor, publicly, from Himself, whether He was a king; or if, after He rose again, He took the opportunity to give the office of teaching and baptizing all peoples to the Apostles, and assigned the name of king to Himself, and openly confirmed that He was a king, [John 18:37.] and solemnly declared that all power in heaven and on earth had been given to Him [Matt. 28:18.]; what was meant by the words so given, but His great power and endless kingdom? Is it not permitted, then, to see in these words Him Who is called by John “the prince of the kings of the earth,” [Apoc. 1:5.] and again, Him Who appeared to the apostle in that vision of future things, and “hath on his garment, and on his thigh written: King of kings, and Lord of lords”? [Apoc. 19:16.] And indeed, the Father “appointed [Christ] heir of all things” [Hebr. 1:2.]; it is necessary that He reign, until, in the ruin of the world, He places all enemies under the feet of God the Father. [1 Cor. 15:25.] It must clearly follow from the teaching of the Scriptures that the Catholic Church, which is the kingdom of Christ on earth, having been led to all men and every country, salutes her Author and Founder as the King, Lord, and King of kings through the annual cycle of the sacred liturgy in many offices of veneration. These offerings of honor, one and the same through a marvelous variety of voices, are in the meanings of the old songs and in the ancient sacramentaries, and are in the public prayers to the divine majesty, and in the sacrifice of the spotless Host, daily offered even in the present; in this perpetual praise of Christ the King the most beautiful singing of our own and of the eastern rites is easily discovered, even as it strengthens this principle: “the law of prayer establishes the law of belief.”

In this, however, this dignity and power of Our Lord fundamentally consists, as Cyril of Alexandria aptly noted: “That I may say the word: Of all creatures He obtained the rule, not through twisting away power, nor taken from another, but by His essence and nature” [In Luc., 10.]; certainly, His rule leans upon that marvelous union which they call “Hypostatic”. Whence it follows, not only that Christ must be adored by angels and men as God, but also that angels and men obey and are subject to His rule as Man; truly, Christ obtains power over all creatures only in the name of the Hypostatic Union. But indeed, what can happen more joyously and more sweetly to us than to think that Christ, not only by inborn law, but even by a sought-after right — that is, of redemption — rules over us? For if only all forgetful men would contemplate how much we owe to our Savior: “you were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver:… [b]ut with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled.” [1 Peter 1:18–19.] We are also not our own, when Christ has bought us “with a great price” [1 Cor. 6:20.]; our bodies themselves “are the members of Christ.” [Ibid., 15.]

And now, that We may declare the power and nature of His leadership to the little ones, it scarcely needs to be said that His power is threefold: which, if it were lacking, it could scarcely be understood as leadership. Testimony which is prompted and brought forth from the Sacred Scriptures about the universal rule of our Redeemer shows more than enough, and it must be believed with Catholic faith, that Jesus Christ was given to men as a Redeemer, in Whom they may trust; but also as a lawgiver, whom they may obey. [Conc. Trid., Sess. 6, can. 21.] But the Gospels do not tell that He founded laws; rather, they show Him founding laws; indeed, everyone must keep these commands. Those who keep them are said to prove His charity and to remain in His love. [John 14:15; John 15:10.] Jesus Himself, indeed, declared to the Jews that He had judicial power given by the Father to Himself, when He said to those denouncing the violation of the Sabbath rest in the miracle of the cleansing of the crippled man: “For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.” [John 5:22.] From this it is understood — because it is a thing that cannot be separated from judgment — that he brings rewards and penalties to men still living by His own right. And furthermore, that power which they call “executive” is also adjudged to be Christ's, inasmuch as it is necessary that everyone obey His rule, and also by the imposing of punishments on resisters [of His authority], which no one is able to flee.

Nevertheless, His kingdom is in a particular way spiritual and pertains to spiritual things, as those words from the Bible, which We brought forth above, most plainly show; morever, Christ the Lord confirms it by His own reason for acting. Accordingly, on one occasion not given above, when the Jews—indeed, the Apostles themselves—judged in error that the Messiah would avenge the people into liberty and reestablish the kingdom of Israel, He took away and shattered this vain hope and opinion. The king must be rejected by the surrounding multitude of admirers, and refuse name and honor by fleeing and hiding: to say in the presence of the Roman chief that his kingdom was “not of this world.” Because, indeed, a kingdom of this type is put forth in the Gospels, into which men prepare to enter by doing penance. They are indeed unable to enter except through faith and baptism; which, even though it is an external rite, nevertheless signifies and accomplishes an internal regeneration. It is opposed uniquely to the kingdom of Satan and the power of darkness, and it demands from followers not only that, mind separated from riches and earthly things, they offer gentleness of manners and hunger and thirst after justice, but also that they deny themselves and take up their cross. And because Christ the Redeemer acquired the Church by His own Blood, and as priest Himself offered and forever offers the Host for sins, who cannot see that He puts on and participates in the kingly office itself and the nature of that office? In other respects, he errs disgustingly who would deprive rule of all civil things whatever from Christ the man, since He thus obtains from the Father an absolute right over created things, as everything has been placed in His judgment. But still, as long as He carried life on the earth, He absolutely withheld Himself from exercising His rule, and, as He held little regard for the possession and gaining of human things, so also He then permitted, and today permits, those things to their possessors. Concerning which it is beautifully said: “He does not take away mortal things, who grants celestial things.” [Hymn. Crudelis Herodes, in off. Epiph.] Therefore, the rule of our Redeemer embraces all men, which was happily said in these words by Our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII: “Clearly, His rule, if seen rightly, pertains not only to peoples of Catholic name, or only to those who are certainly in the Church, having been washed by sacred baptism, even if some error keeps them away, or dissension separates them from charity; but it embraces even all those who are not numbered among the Christian faith, since truly the entirety of the human race is in the power of Jesus Christ.” [Enc. Annum Sacrum, d. 25 May 1899.] Nor, in this matter, is there anything different between domestic and civil convictions, for men joined together in society are no less in the power of Christ than individually. Clearly, the source of private and common salvation is the same: “Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved” [Acts 4:12.]; and it is the same author of genuine happiness and success for every man and for the republic: “For the blessed state is from nowhere else than a blessed man is from, since the state is nothing else but a harmonious multitude of men.” [S. Aug., Ep. ad Macedonium, c. III.] Therefore, the rulers of nations should not refuse to be responsible for the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ, both in themselves and through the people, if they wish to carry on in, and increase the fortune of, the state with their authority unharmed. For what We wrote at the beginning of Our pontificate about the truly diminished authority of law and the same of power, those things are no less suitable or congruent at the present time: “God and Jesus Christ having been removed — how We rue it! — from the laws and the republic, is not derived from God, but by human authority, so that… the fundamentals of authority themselves are shattered; for the prince having been taken away, why should some have the right to rule, and some the duty to obey? From this, all human society will be shattered, propped up with no solid roof or protection.” [Enc. Ubi arcano.]

Therefore, if men recognize the royal power of Christ privately and publicly, incredible benefits must spread through the civil community, such as a just liberty, discipline, tranquillity, agreement, and peace. For the royal dignity of Our Lord, just as it instructs the human authority of princes and governors with religion, so it ennobles the duties and obedience of the citizens. On that account the Apostle Paul, although he warned women and servants to revere Christ in their husbands and masters, he warned also that they obey not so much men themselves, but especially because they occupied the place of Christ, since it is unbecoming for men, redeemed by Christ, to serve men: “You are bought with a price; be not made the bondslaves of men.” [1 Cor 7:23.] But if one is persuaded that lawfully selected princes and magistrates rule not in their own right, but in the command and in the place of the divine King, no one cannot see that they might use their authority wisely, in a holy way, and have, in the bringing and enforcing of laws, a type of concern of the common good and of the human dignity of inferiors. From this, tranquillity of order will surely stand and blossom, removed from any cause of sedition; for whether the citizen sees, in the prince and other governors of the republic, men of the same nature as himself, or men for some reason unworthy or blameworthy, he will not on that account refuse their rule, when he considers in them the proposed image and authority of Christ, God and Man. It is proven entirely, morever, regarding what pertains to the offices of harmony and peace, by which the kingdom is led more broadly and pertains to the whole of the human race, mortals are more conscious of their community, by which they are joined among themselves; indeed, that knowledge, since it anticipates and attends to frequent conflicts, soothes and lessens the severity of them all. And why, if the kingdom of Christ embraces all by right, do we despair of that peace which the peaceful King brings to the earth? He, we say, who comes “to reconcile all things”, who “does not come that he might be ministered to, but that he might minister”, and, although He is “the Lord of all”, presents in Himself an example of humility and establishes a special law joined with the command of charity; Who furthermore said, “My yoke is sweet and my burden light”? O, what blessedness will bear fruit, if each man and family and state allowed itself to be governed by Christ! “Then finally — that We may use the words which Our predecessor Leo XIII used to all the bishops of sacred things twenty-five years ago — how many wounds might be healed, and every law will grow green in the hope of a pristine authority, and the ornaments of peace will be restored, and the swords will disappear and arms flow out of hands, when all cheerfully accept the rule of Christ and obey Him, and every tongue shall confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.” [Enc. Annum sanctum, d. 25 May 1899.]

Now, in truth, that the desired usefulness may be more fruitfully perceived and sit more stably in a Christian society, and since the knowledge of the kingly dignity of Our Savior must be disseminated as widely as possible, nothing seems more useful for it, than if a proper and particular feast of Christ the King should be established. And indeed, the annual celebrations of the sacred mysteries have more effect in imbuing the things of the faith in the people, and through them exalting in the interior joys of life, than any of the gravest documents of the Church's magisterium; accordingly, the former fall to the fewer and the more learned men, the latter overpower and teach all the faithful; the former once, the latter every year and forever; as We say, so they speak; the former chiefly minds, the latter both minds and hearts, indeed the whole man, are affected for salvation. Reasonably, since man consists of both soul and body, he ought to be moved and stirred up by the external solemnities of feast days, that he might drink in more fully the divine teachings through the variety and beauty of the sacred rites, and, turned into drink and blood, he may command himself to serve it for accomplishment in the spiritual life.

In other respects, as we see from the literature, this type of celebration has been introduced, in the passing of the ages, when the necessity or usefulness of the Christian people demanded it; since, of course, the people ought either to be strengthened in common judgment, or fortified from the serpentine errors of heresy, or moved and inflamed more sharply to contemplate with a greater eagerness of piety the mystery and benefit of the divine kindness. Therefore, coming from the early ages of renewed salvation, when Christians were more harshly harassed, the martyrs began to be commemorated in the sacred rites, that “the solemnities of the martyrs” might be “the exhortations of martyrdom”, as Augustine testified; and afterwards liturgical honors were offered to confessors, virgins, and widows, for sharpening the eagerness for virtue in the Christian faithful, or marvelously strengthening the necessary traits for quiet times. But most importantly, the celebrations of the feasts in honor of the Most Blessed Virgin were established, to make sure that the Christian people not only religiously honored the Mother of God and most distinguished Patroness, but also loved more ardently that Mother left to them, like a testament, by the Redeemer. In the benefits truly accomplished by the public and legitimate honoring of the God-bearer and of the heavenly saints, must finally be numbered that the Church, unconquered, has driven out from herself the plague of heresies and errors. But We admire the counsel of the most provident God in this thing, Who, since He is accustomed to draw good from evil itself, has repeatedly permitted the popular faith and piety to be sent away, or that false doctrines lay traps for Catholic truth, so that when they have departed, this truth might shine with a certain new brightness, and bestirred from its torpor, it might contend for better and holier things. Certainly, this is not unlike, and will bear similar fruit to, the rise of certain solemnities which have been added to the annual course of the liturgy, even in more recent times; as, when reverence and worship of the August Sacrament had cooled, the feast of Corpus Christi was established, putting in place a magnificant apparatus of pomps and prayers over eight days to call the people to publicly adoring the Lord; and as the celebration of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was introduced, when, weakened and saddened by the sadness and morose severity of the Jansenists, the hearts of men grew thoroughly cold and frightened off from the love of God and trust in salvation.

Now, if We have commanded that Christ the King be worshipped by all with the name of Catholic, by that fact itself We have seen the necessity of these times and the plague which has infected the society of men, and We have proposed the same as a special remedy. We speak of the plague of our time, which they call laicism, and of its sought-after and nefarious errors: which wickedness indeed, Venerable Brethren, you know matured not in a single day, since it was already hiding some time ago in the innards of the state. For the rule of Christ over all nations began to be denied; denied, because it stepped away from the right of Christ itself, the right of the Church of teaching the human race, of making laws, of ruling the people, and of leading them to eternal blessedness. Then, little by little, the religion of Christ was equated with, and placed in the same category as, false ones, utterly indecorously; next, she was subordinated to the civil power and nearly entrusted to the will of princes and magistrates; even further, they think that a certain natural religion, a natural movement of the heart, must be substituted for divine religion. Neither are there lacking states which decide that they are able to be without God and His religion, and that they can be placed in impiety and negligence of God. Of course, We bewailed in the Encyclical Letter Ubi arcano, and We equally bewail it again today, these most bitter fruits: the desertion of each state and citizen from Christ, so frequently and for a long time: the seeds of discord being sown, and the flames of hatred and enmity kindled among peoples, which still bring such a delay in reconciling peace; an extravagance of greed, which is by no means covered over by the rare appearance of public good and love, and produces a discord between citizens, then blinds them with an excessive love of self, and looks at nothing else but private suitability or advantage, by which all things are measured; domestic peace is utterly and completely overturned by forgetfulness and neglect of duties; the communion and stability of the family is shaken; finally, the agitation and ruin of the society of men occurs. This yearly celebration of Christ the King produces a great hope in Us that society may hurry to return to its most beloved Savior. Let Catholics everywhere return, by this action, to mature and quicken their works; many of these, however, cannot obtain, by either their social circle or their strong authority, what is suitable for those who bear the torch of truth. Perhaps this must be assigned to a troublesome slowness or fear of good things, that some restrain themselves out of repugnance or more calmly resist; whence it is necessary that the enemies of the Church have the greater boldness and rashness. But if indeed the faithful generally understand that they must serve as soldiers, perpetually and bravely, under the signs of Christ the King, then, begun by the fire of the apostolate, unfriendly or undeveloped souls may be eager to reconcile to their Lord and struggle to defend His rights intact.

And besides, does it not seem that the solemnities of Christ the King, every year, are very much conducive for accusing this kind of public defection, which laicism births with the defeat of society, and to be very much of advantage? And indeed, when the most sweet Name of our Redeemer is unworthily confined among the nations to convents, and silently in the courts, it must be proclaimed all the more, and the rights of the royal dignity and power of Christ must be widely affirmed.

What do We see happily and excellently fortified from an earlier age for the establishing of the celebration of this feast day? For no one doesn't know that this cult has been wisely and splendidly vindicated by many; the whole world stands open to it, thanks to books published in a great variety of languages; and likewise, they are led by that pious custom (where the leadership and rule of Christ is recognized) of innumerable families dedicating and giving themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Truly, it is excellent for the family, but also for states and kingdoms; no indeed, the entirety of the human race has auspiciously been consecrated to the divine Heart, by Leo XIII as the author and leader, at the turning of the year 1900. Nor should We pass over in silence, that we solemnly affirm the royal power of Christ in human societies in the wonderful manner of very frequent Eucharistic Congresses, where we have been accustomed to be gathered together in our age. Without a doubt, in this way the people of each diocese, region, nation, or the whole world, called together for worshipping and venerating Christ the King hiding under the Eucharistic veils, in meetings or in the temples salute together, publicly, in common adoration of the August Sacrament, with magnificent ceremony, Christ divinely given to them as King. You say, by law and by merit, that the Christian people, acting by a divine inspiration, wish to restore Jesus (Whom impious men, when He came into His own, did not want to receive) to all His royal rights, led out of the silence of the sacred temples as if out of a hiding place through the streets of the city in the manner of a triumph.

Now, in truth, the Holy Year, which now nears its end, has the greatest opportunity of completing that counsel, which We have remembered. The minds and hearts of the faithful having been called to heavenly goods, which exceed all the senses, the most kind God either exalts by the gift of His grace, or confirms in proceeding on the right journey by adding new spurs to imitating better gifts. Whether, therefore, We attend to so many prayers addressed to Us, or We look back upon those things which happened in the space of the great Jubilee, it will certainly suffice when We throw them together, that it is the best day for all for Us to pronounce that Christ the King of the whole human race is to be worshipped on a proper and particular feast. For in this Year, as We said at the beginning, the divine King, truly “wonderful in His saints”, with a new flock of His own heavenly soldiers increased by honors, “is gloriously magnified”; again, in this Year, through the sight of uncommon things and labors, the victories made by the heralds of the Gospel in bringing Christ into His kingdom might be admired by all; finally, in this Year, We commemorate the solemnities of the Council of Nicea through the centuries, vindicating that the Word Incarnate is consubstantial with the Father, on which the rule of the same Christ over all people rests as if on its foundation.

Therefore, by Our apostolic authority, We establish the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, every year, on the last Sunday of the month of October, which of course comes closely before the celebration of All Saints, to be held everywhere on the earth. We teach again, that the dedication of the human race to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be renewed on that day each year; the same dedication which Our predecessor, Pius X, ordered to be repeated each year. More precisely, however, in this year, We wish it to be done on the thirty-first day of this month, on which day We will work in honor of Christ the King in the sacred things in the pontifical rite, and We will order the consecration to be done before Us. Nor do We see that the Holy Year can be concluded better or more appropriately, than by showing a better sign of Our thankful heart to Christ, “immortal King of the ages” — in Whom We have placed the grateful wills of the whole Catholic world — on account of the benefits of this holy time brought together in Us, in the Church, and in the Catholic name.

Nor do We need to teach you, Venerable Brethren, much or for very long about the reason that We have decided to make this feast of Christ the King, distinct from others which have within them signification and celebration of His kingly dignity. For only one suffices: that, although the material object in all the feasts of Our Lord is Christ, the formal object may be separated from the royal power and name of Christ. Truly, We have proclaimed that it be on a Sunday so that not only may a cleric excel by offering and singing his own duties for the divine King, but also that the people, free of their usual occupations, may give special testimony to Christ in a spirit of holy joy, obedience, and service. And it was seen far more appropriate for this celebration to be on the last Sunday of October, by which time the course of the liturgical year is nearly closed; it thus happens that the mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ commemorated throughout the year may be summed up and resolved by the holy solemnities of Christ the King, and, before we celebrate the glory of All Saints, His glory is preached and brought forth, Who triumphs in all the Saints and the Elect. Therefore, this will be your office, Venerable Brethren, and these parts will be yours, that you take care to send ahead for the annual celebration, on the standing days, to the people gathered in every parish, to whom the nature, meaning, and importance of the feast has been carefully explained; thus may they establish and make up their lives, that they may be worthy who yield eagerly and faithfully to the rule of the divine King.

Meanwhile, may it please you, Venerable Brethren, for Us to briefly declare at the end of these Letters what usefulness We promise from this public worship of Christ the King for the good of the Church and civil society, and morever for each of the faithful.

Certainly, by rendering these honors to the Lord's leadership, it is necessary that men be reminded that the Church, inasmuch as she is made a perfect society by Christ, must demand a complete liberty and immunity from the civil power by her own right, which she cannot set aside; and that the Church, in fulfilling her divinely-given office of teaching, ruling, and leading to eternal blessedness all those who are from the kingdom of Christ, cannot depend on some outside will. No indeed, the republic owes a similar liberty to protect those in Orders and organizations of both sexes, who, because they are the strongest helpers of the pastors of the Church, so powerfully exert themselves strengthening or holding up in the kingdom of Christ; they either fight against the triple concupiscence of the world by the religion of sacred vows, or make themselves more perfect by the profession of their lives, so that that holiness which the divine Founder commanded to be the distinguishing mark of the Church may leap out and shine, forever increased in splendor before the eyes of all.

And the celebration of the feast day itself, annually renewed in the world, will advise states of the duty of publicly worshipping and obeying Christ; that just as private citizens must do so, so must magistrates and governors. It will truly recall them to the thoughts of that last judgment in which Christ, not only thrown out of the republic, but even unknown and neglected in contempt, will sharply avenge such injuries, since His regal dignity demands it, that the whole republic be constructed for the divine commands and Christian principles, when making laws, speaking right, and especially when confirming the hearts of the young for sound doctrine and integrity of morals.

But in addition, it will be permitted for the Christian faithful to draw whatever strength or virtue from meditating upon these things as will fashion their hearts to the genuine establishment of a Christian life. For if all power in heaven and on earth is given to Christ the Lord; if mortals, purchased by His most Precious Blood, are subjected by a certain new right to His authority; if, finally, power of this sort embraces the whole human nature, it can be clearly understood that no ability is within us which is excepted from such a rule. Therefore, He must reign in the mind of man, with which he has, by his perfect lowering of spirit, assented firmly and immovably to the revealed truths and teachings of Christ; He must reign in the will, with which he is to yield to the divine laws and precepts; He must reign in the heart, with which, his natural appetites having been subordinated, he is to love God above all other things, and adhere to Him alone; He must reign in the body and its members, which ought to serve for the interior sanctity of souls, like instruments or, as We use the words of the Apostle Paul, [Rom. 6:13.] like “instruments of justice unto God”. Indeed, if all these things are thoroughly inspected and considered by the Christian faithful, the faithful will much more easily be led to the most perfect things. Would that it be done, Venerable Brethren, that both outsiders seek after and receive the sweet yoke of Christ for their salvation, and that we all, who by the merciful counsel of God are of His household, bear that sweet yoke not grudgingly but eagerly, lovingly, with holiness; and by our life matched up to the laws of the divine kingdom, may we perceive a most joyful abundance of good fruits, and, held by Christ to be good and faithful servants, may be made possessors of blessedness and glory in His eternal and heavenly kingdom with Him.

Indeed, may this sign and Our will toward you, Venerable Brethren, be an example of paternal charity, in the approach of the birthday of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and receive the apostolic blessing, the mediator of divine gifts, which We very fondly impart to you, Venerable Brethren, and to your clergy and people.

Given at Rome, before Saint Peter, this 11 day of the month of December in the Holy Year 1925, the fourth of Our pontificate.

Pope Pius XI