(from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: "In the first") was an encyclical of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City f ...

. Promulgated on December 11, 1925, it introduced the

Feast of Christ the King The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, commonly referred to as the Feast of Christ the King, Christ the King Sunday or Reign of Christ Sunday, is a feast in the liturgical year which emphasises the true kingship of Christ ...

Purpose and content

''Quas primas'' followed Pius's initial encyclical, '' Ubi arcano Dei consilio'', which he referred to in his opening statement:

...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.

In ''Ubi arcano'', Pius enjoined the faithful to seek "the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ". ''Quas primas'' established the

, which was

's response to the world's increasing secularization and nationalism. It was written in the aftermath of World War I and the Revolutions of 1917–1923, which saw the fall of the

Hohenzollerns The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brand ...

, Romanovs,

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

and Ottomans. In contrast,

pointed to a king "of whose kingdom there shall be no end". In 1925 the Pope asked the French Dominican priest

Édouard Hugon Édouard Hugon (25 August 1867 – 7 February 1929), Roman Catholic Priest, French Dominican, Thomistic philosopher and theologian trusted and held in high esteem by the Holy See, from 1909 to 1929 was a professor at the ''Pontificium Collegiu ...

, professor of philosophy and theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'', to work on ''Quas primas''.Hugon O.P., Édourad. "Fuori della Chiesa non c'è salvezza", Accessed Feb. 6, 2013
/ref> "the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created".
/ref> In Matthew 28:18 Jesus himself says, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me." In Revelation 19:16 Christ is recognized as "King of kings and Lord of lords." The encyclical summarised both the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

and the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

teaching on the kingship of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. Invoking an earlier encyclical '' Annum sacrum'' of

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...

, Pius XI suggested that the Kingdom of Christ embraces the whole mankind. Pius explained that by virtue of Christ’s claim to kingship as creator and redeemer, societies as well as individuals owe him obligations as king.McCall, Brian M., "Quas Primas and the Economic Ordering of Society for the Social Reign of Christ the King", ''Journal of Catholic Legal Studies'', Vol. 47, January 2008
/ref>

Significance for laity

St Botolph without Aldersgate, London EC1 - Window - geograph

While the encyclical was addressed to Catholic bishops,

wanted the feast of Christ the King to encourage the laity:

Notes

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External links

''Quas primas'' (English translation)
Catholic liturgy Encyclicals of Pope Pius XI Christ the King 1925 documents 1925 in Christianity December 1925 events