Christ the King - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Christ The King) Title of Jesus in Christianity This article is about the title of Jesus. For other uses, see Christ the King (disambiguation). "Christ the Lord" redirects here. For the film produced under that title, see The Young Messiah (film).

Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where Christ is described as being seated at the right hand of God.

Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one of the threefold offices: Christ is a prophet, priest, and king.

The title "Christ the King" is also frequently used as a name for churches, schools, seminaries, hospitals, and religious institutes.

According to a tradition followed most prominently by the Catholic Church, Mary is given the title of Queen of Heaven.

Biblical basis

In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel proclaims to Mary, "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

In the Book of Revelation (17:14) it is declared that the Lamb is "King of kings, and Lord of lords".

Background

The concept of Christ as king was the subject of an address given by Eusebius about AD 314. Depictions of the imperial Christ arise in the later part of the fourth century. Christ Pantokrator ("Ruler of All") is one of the most common religious icons of Orthodox Christianity. The Western equivalent is Christ in Majesty.

Pius XI

Ubi arcano Dei consilio

Pope Pius XI's first encyclical was Ubi arcano Dei consilio of December 1922. Writing in the aftermath of World War I, Pius noted that while there had been a cessation of hostilities, there was no true peace. He deplored the rise of class divisions and unbridled nationalism, and held that true peace can only be found under the Kingship of Christ as "Prince of Peace". "For Jesus Christ reigns over the minds of individuals by his teachings, in their hearts by His love, in each one's life by the living according to His law and the imitating of His example."

Quas primas

Christ's kingship was addressed again in the encyclical Quas primas of Pope Pius XI, published in 1925. Michael D. Greaney called it "possibly one of the most misunderstood and ignored encyclicals of all time." The pontiff's encyclical quotes with approval Cyril of Alexandria, noting that Jesus's kingship was given to him by the Father, and was 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.'" He also referenced Leo XIII's 1899 Annum sacrum wherein Leo relates the Kingship of Christ to devotion to his Sacred Heart.

Early Propagation

In November 1926, the Pontiff gave his assent to the establishment of the first church dedicated to Christ under the title of King. The Church of Our Lord, Christ the King, a young parish in the neighborhood of Mount Lookout, Cincinnati, which had previously been operating out of a pharmacy located in the neighborhood square, soon began to flourish. In May 1927, a proper sanctuary and neighborhood icon was consecrated. Designed by famed church architect Edward J. Schulte, the building exemplifies the designer's signature marriage of art deco decoration in Brutalist construction, principally arranged to mimic Ancient liturgical spaces of early Christianity.

Feast of Christ the King

Main article: Feast of Christ the King

Stained glass window at the Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in Roslindale, Massachusetts, depicting Christ the King in the regalia of a Byzantine emperor

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The General Roman Calendar of 1969 moved its observance in the Roman Rite to the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the final Sunday of the liturgical year. Most Anglicans, Lutherans and some Protestants celebrate it on the same day. However, Catholics who observe the pre-Vatican II General Roman Calendar of 1960, and members of the Anglican Catholic Church celebrate it instead on the last Sunday of October, the Sunday before All Saints' Day, the day assigned in 1925.