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← The Liturgical CalendarLast Sunday of October · Time after Pentecost

Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

Domini Nostri Iesu Christi Regis

WhiteFirst ClassLast Sunday of October

On the last Sunday of October the Church proclaims the kingship of Christ over every heart, every home, and every nation.

The Feast of Christ the King closes the long season after Pentecost with a great proclamation: that Jesus Christ is King — not only of individual souls, but of families, societies, and nations. In the traditional Roman calendar the feast is kept on the last Sunday of October, immediately before the feast of All Saints, as a First-Class feast of Our Lord.

Instituted by Pope Pius XI

The feast is comparatively recent in origin. In 1925, amid the upheavals that followed the First World War — the collapse of Christian monarchies and the rise of secularism that would push God from public life — Pope Pius XI instituted the feast in the Encyclical Quas Primas. He set it deliberately on the last Sunday of October so that the kingship of Christ might be proclaimed just before the Church honoured all the saints who reign with him in glory. The Pope taught that the peace of Christ can be found only in the kingdom of Christ — Pax Christi in Regno Christi.

A Gentle Reign

The kingship the feast proclaims is not one of force but of truth and love. As the Collect prays, Christ wills to draw “all the families of nations, rent asunder by the wound of sin,” under his “most gentle rule.” To keep this feast is to renew our own allegiance — to let Christ truly reign in our thoughts, our wills, our homes and our work.

The Collect

Almighty everlasting God, who in Thy beloved Son, the King of the whole world, hast willed to restore all things anew: mercifully grant that all the families of nations, rent asunder by the wound of sin, may be subjected to His most gentle rule. Who with Thee liveth and reigneth…

Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui in dilécto Fílio tuo, universórum Rege, ómnia instauráre voluísti: concéde propítius; ut cunctæ famíliæ géntium, peccáti vúlnere disgregátæ, eius suavíssimo subdántur império.

Common Questions

When is the Feast of Christ the King in the traditional calendar?

In the 1962 Roman calendar it falls on the last Sunday of October — not, as in the newer calendar, on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It is a feast of the First Class.

Who instituted the Feast of Christ the King?

Pope Pius XI, in the Encyclical Quas Primas of 11 December 1925.

What does the feast mean?

It proclaims that Jesus Christ reigns as King over all creation — over individuals, families, and nations alike — and calls the faithful to submit their whole lives, and the life of society, to his loving rule.

Related Feasts

See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.