In the liturgical calendar of 2024, on Sunday, November 24, the Catholic Church will celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe; Also known as the Feast of Christ the King.
This feast is celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year and remembers that Christ is the true King who must reign in our hearts.
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Here we present 7 relevant facts about this solemnity:
1. The Solemnity of Christ the King was instituted after the First World War
After the First World War, amid the growth of communism in Russia, and on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), Pope Pius XI established the holiday in 1925 with the encyclical Which first ones.
2. Their first celebration coincided with Halloween
It was originally established for the last Sunday in October, just before the Feast of All Saints. When it was first celebrated, in 1926, the calendar marked October 31, coinciding with Halloween.
3. Saint Paul VI gave the name and current date to this solemnity
In 1969, Pope Saint Paul VI gave the festival its current title: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe; and moved it to the last Sunday of the liturgical year.
4. The Solemnity of Christ the King is a response to secularization, atheism and communism
As the world pushed for Christians to restrict their religious holidays and be more loyal to governments, Pope Pius XI wrote:
“For if all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ Our Lord; if men, having been redeemed by his blood, are subject by a new title to his authority; if, finally, this power embraces all human nature, it is clearly seen that there is no faculty in us that escapes such high sovereignty. It is, therefore, necessary that Christ reign in the intelligence of man, which, with perfect compliance, must firmly assent. and constantly at truths already revealed the doctrine of Christ; it is necessary that it reign in the will, which must obey the divine laws and precepts; it is necessary that it reign in the heart, which, postponing natural effects, must love God above all. all things.” (Which first ones34)
5. It is also celebrated by many Protestants
Although it was created by the Catholic Church, some Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians also celebrate this important holiday.
6. In the Protestant Church of Sweden, this Sunday is called “Condemnation Sunday”
Although Protestants in Sweden officially celebrate this holiday as “The Return of Christ”, its colloquial name is “Doomsday Sunday”, as it comes from the fact that the holiday focuses on the Last Judgment and the second coming of Jesus.
7. In Poland there is the largest statue in honor of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
At 33 meters high (one meter for each year of Jesus’ earthly life) and 3 meters base, the statue of Christ the King in Swlebodzin, in northwestern Poland, is three meters taller than Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Janeiro (Brazil).
This news was originally published on November 23, 2018.
Central Editorial
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