This article discusses the title of Jesus Christ, Christ the King. For the high school, see Christ The King Regional High School.

Christ the King, a detail from the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck.

Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture and used by all Christians. Many denominations, including Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and some Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate, in honour of Christ under this title, the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, before a new year begins with the First Sunday of Advent, the earliest date of which is 27 November. The Feast of Christ the King is thus on the Sunday that falls between 20 and 26 November. The title "Christ the King" is also frequently used as a name for churches, schools, seminaries and hospitals.

Origins

The name is found in various forms in scripture: King Eternal (1 Timothy 1:17), King of Israel (John 1:49), King of the Jews (Mt. 27:11), King of kings (1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 19:16), King of the Ages (Book of Revelation 15:3) and Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5).^[1]

Insigna of the Vendean insurgents who fought against suppression of the Church in the French Revolution. Note the French words 'Dieu Le Roi' beneath the heart-and-cross, meaning 'God (is) the king'.

The ideological movement of Christ's Kingship was addressed in the encyclical Quas Primas of Pope Pius XI, published in 1925, which has been called "possibly one of the most misunderstood and ignored encyclicals of all time". ^[2] The Pontiff's encyclical quotes with approval Cyril of Alexandria, noting that Jesus' Kingship is not obtained by violence: "'Christ,' he says, 'has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature.'"

Pope Benedict XVI has remarked, that Christ's Kingship is not based on "human power" but on loving and serving others. The prefect exemplar of that acceptance, he pointed out, is the Virgin Mary. Her humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will in her life, the Pope noted, was the reason that "God exalted her over all other creatures, and Christ crowned her Queen of heaven and earth." ^[3]

Movements that used the phrase as a rallying cry

• Mexican Cristeros fighting the persecution by the anti-Catholic and anticlerical president Plutarco Elías Calles
• Spanish Christians who were attacked by anti-Catholic and anticlerical communists and anarchists in the Spanish Civil War
• Rexism (from Latin Christus Rex), an initially Roman Catholic movement, but was cut off from the Church by Bishops in Belgium, which became ever closer to National Socialism and eventually ended up collaborating (mainly in the combat against communism, that is: against the Soviet Union at the Eastern Front) during the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany.
• Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey ("Christ King guerrillas"), an armed oppositional organization operating during the Spanish transition to democracy against leftists and what they deemed obscenity.

Schools and churches

Many Catholic schools and churches have taken this name, as shown here:

• Christ the King Catholic Church & School In Hollywood CA
• Christ The King Catholic Primary School, Blackpool
• Christ the King Catholic School & Church In North Rocks Australia
• Christ the King Dallas
• Christ the King School Chicago
• Christ the King Catholic Church, Kansas City, Mo
• Christ the King Catholic Church and Primary School, Burmside, Christchurch, New Zealand
• Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, New York
• Christ the King Catholic School in Philadelphia, PA
• Christ the King Reformed Episcopal church, in Pasadena MD
• Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, Manville, NJ

Other Christian churches' buildings also sometimes use this dedication, such as:

• the Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury

References

See also

• The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are theological concepts interpreted variously.
• Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews is the inscription which the gospels report was placed on the cross by the Romans and which is found on many crucifixes.
• The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the solemnity of Feast of Christ the King on a Sunday of November. Paola, Malta celebrates it on the third Sunday of July.
• Cristo Rey, the Spanish translation used for several placenames.

External links

• QUAS PRIMAS: Encyclical on the Feast of Christ the King His Holiness Pope Pius XI, December 11, 1925