Encyclical

Pope Pius XI is Vicar of Christ who, his Church claims, received from God the absolute right over all created things, civil affairs, Christians and even non-Christians. So the Vicar can say with equanimity, with no doubt, in an encyclical letter sent last week to all patriarchs, primates, archbishops and bishops for the instruction of their flocks:

"The heads of States should therefore not refuse to testify publicly their reverence for and obedience to the Kingdom of Christ if they wish their power to remain unimpaired, and their countries to prosper and progress. If princes and legitimately elected magistrates, in fact, were convinced that they command not in their own right but by the mandate of the Divine King it is easy to understand what sacred use they would make of their authority.

"Their subjects, on the other hand, will not attempt to escape their commands when they recognize in them the image and authority of Christ, God and man. Besides, with the growth of the Kingdom of Christ men become more aware of the brotherhood which unites them and this awareness decreases the danger of conflicts."

The encyclical, the latest of a series sent out by the 259 popes, is unusually aggressive in the Church's cause. It exhorts the faithful to "militate courageously under the banners of Christ the King, to go back with apostolic fervor to the rebels and misguided ones and strive to maintain the rights of God himself intact," for "when in international meetings and parliaments the sweet name of our Redeemer is passed in shameful silence it is highly necessary to acclaim it publicly, announcing everywhere the rights of His sovereign dignity and power."

This letter is part of His Holiness's program of establishing the "Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ." Further in line with this program he announced also in his letter a new Catholic feast, the Feast of the Kingdom of Christ to be celebrated the last Sunday in October, except this year when he himself was scheduled to celebrate it by pontifical high mass in the basilica of St. Peter's on New Year's eve, that is, on Dec. 31, St. Sylvester's. Prelates everywhere were scheduled similarly to celebrate the masses of their powers.