Dublin, Ireland, Nov 23, 2025 / 04:00 am

The feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 following his encyclical Quas Primas. Today it is celebrated on the final Sunday before Advent.

Quas Primas was Pope Pius XI’s profound response to the rising tide of secularism and nationalism in the early 20th century.

In his introduction, Pope Pius wrote: “Manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics; and we said further that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.”

Composed in the aftermath of World War I a

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