Christ the King Services

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Christ the King

Pope Pius XI instituted the Solemnity of Christ the King on 11 December in 1925 in his encyclical Quas Primas. At that time he saw the rise of Atheistic Communism and Secularism as a direct result of man's turning away from Christ's sovereignty, and man's denying of the authority of Christ's Church. This result was "disorder" or a move away from the Divine Order. The Feast of Christ the King was set on the last Sunday in October.

After the Second Vatican Council, the calendar reforms of 1969 moved the date of the Feast of Christ the King to the last Sunday before the next liturgical year's Advent (Advent marking the start of the liturgical year; Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas Day). Before this change, the Sunday before Advent bore the designation "Last Sunday After Pentecost" and had its own special mass, regardless of the number of Sundays there were between Pentecost and Advent (23 to 28) in that particular year. Many of the same readings used in this mass were incorporated into the mass authorized for the feast of Christ the King in its new location in the calendar.

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