I have no love of kings. I often say to friends who are fascinated by the English royals that we turned our backs on that in 1776. That's why I indicated in yesterday's blog that the title "Cosmic Christ" held more appeal for me than "King Christ." The more correct translation "Reign (or Rule) of God" is being used more and more instead of "Kingdom of God" in contemporary New Testament scholarship. Both Old and New Testaments express mixed attitudes toward kings.
The Feast of Christ the King was inaugurated in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Eamon Duffy in his enjoyable and enlightening book, Saints and Sinners: a History of the Popes, says of Pius XI, "He had not a liberal bone in his body" and "Pius XI assisted at the deathbed of Italian democracy. It is unlikely that he shed many tears, for he was no democrat." In the encyclical establishing the feast of Christ the King, he denounced the secularism of the developing democratic states and asserted the rule of Christ over all societies.
His own dictatorial ways accomplished a lot of good, especially with regard to the missions. But in a 1928 encyclical "he rubbished the infant ecumenical movement." Duffy says the attitude communicated by the encyclical was "Come in slowly with your hands above your heads." The Feast of Christ the King was set for the last Sunday of October when Protestant churches were celebrating "Reformation Sunday." In our more ecumenical minded age it was moved to conclude the church year.
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