Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is a feast in the liturgical year which emphasizes the true Kingship of Christ. The feast is a relatively recent addition to the liturgical calendar, instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1970, its Roman Rite observance was moved from October to the last Sunday of Ordinary Time and thus to the end of the liturgical year. The earliest date on which the Feast of Christ the King can occur is November 20 and the latest is November 26.

Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in his encyclical "Quas Primas” of 1925. The title of the feast was Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Regis ([of] Our Lord Jesus Christ the King), and the date was established as "the last Sunday of the month of October – the Sunday, that is, which immediately precedes the Feast of All Saints. In his motu proprio "Mysterii Paschalis" of 1969, Pope Paul VI amended the title of the Feast to Domini Nostri Iesu Christi universorum Regis (Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe). He also moved it to the new date of the final Sunday of the liturgical year. Through this choice of date "the eschatological importance of this Sunday is made clearer.” The feast was assigned the highest rank of solemnity.

According to Saint Cyril of Alexandria, "Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but His by essence and by nature. His kingship is founded upon the hypostatic union. From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to Him as man, angels and men are subject, and must recognize His empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures.” The Feast of Christ the King has an eschatological dimension, pointing to the end of time when the kingdom of Jesus will be established in all its fullness to the ends of the earth.