"Springtime of Vatican II"
Update

So Much for the Kingship of Christ

by Christopher A. Ferrara

        One of the many traditional Catholic teachings that have mysteriously disappeared since Vatican II is the constant teaching of the pre-conciliar popes that Christ is King, not only of individual men, but of all nations — Christian and non-Christian alike — and that all nations must conform their laws and institutions to the law of Christ the King. As Pope Leo XIII taught in his encyclical Annum Sacrum: "His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons … but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ."

        This teaching means that all nations must conform their laws and institutions to the law of Christ the King — no "legalized" abortion, divorce, contraception, "gay rights," and so forth. For as Pius XI taught in Quas Primas, there is no difference in this matter "between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ."

        How far the human element of the Church has fallen from this majestic teaching during the present period of "diabolical disorientation" as it is called by Sister Lucy in light of the Message of Fatima.

        In the midst of the reigning confusion, the currently reigning Pope himself is reduced to a timid and highly veiled reference to this doctrine. Consider John Paul II’s recent plea that the European Union recognize its "Christian roots." The Pope’s plea is couched entirely in terms of the humanistic benefits to be derived from recognizing these "roots": "The Christian roots are not a memory of religious exclusiveness, but a foundation of freedom because they make Europe a melting pot of different cultures and experiences…. [From] these ancient roots the European peoples have obtained the impulse that drove them to touch the limits of the earth and to reach the depth of man, of his intangible dignity, of the fundamental equality of all, of the universal right to justice and peace…. Europe will be that much stronger for the present and future of the world the more it drinks from the sources of its religious and cultural traditions."

        In other words, Europe should recognize its "Christian roots" — not its Catholic history, mind you, but its vague "Christian roots" — because these "Christian roots" promote freedom, human progress, equality, justice, peace, and cultural diversity, without any "religious exclusiveness."

        With all due respect, these are not the reasons Europe should recover its Catholic identity. No doubt the Pope offers this advice with the best of intentions and without any malign intention to deny or obscure Catholic teaching. But the truth is that Europe must recover its faith because Christ the King demands it as that tribute which is owing to Him and His Father. Europe must recover its faith because unless the people of Europe obey the law of Christ the King, they and their nations will perish under a divine chastisement — the annihilation of nations predicted in the Message of Fatima.

        Before Vatican II the Church taught the Kingship of Christ, but today a liberalized and confused hierarchy speaks only of the cultural heritage of Christ. But Christ did not come to enliven human culture. He came to save the world from its sins by enjoining us to place His yoke upon our shoulders, giving us the grace to bear it easily, if only we ask for His aid.

        Restoring the Kingship of Christ and the Queenship of His Immaculate Mother is what the Message of Fatima, with its prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart, is all about. Small wonder that in this time of diabolical disorientation in the Church, it is precisely this message that has been forgotten by so many of those in positions of authority.