Archbishop Lefebvre 1989: Sermon given on the Feast of Christ the King

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Sermon of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre for the Feast of Christ the King
October 29, 1989
Dublin, Ireland

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

My dear brethren,

It is a great pleasure for me to meet you again in this magnificent church. Four years ago I was here to bless this church and now I am here for the Feast of Jesus Christ, the King.

We must thank God for the many blessings, many graces, He gives you in this church by the ministry of your beloved priests. How many graces, how many blessings you receive by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by the Sacrament of Holy Communion, by the Sacrament of Penance! We must thank God.

I am very happy to celebrate this Sacrifice of the Mass this day of the Feast of Jesus Christ, the King. He is really King. In 1925 Pope Pius XI wrote a magnificent encyclical letter, Quas Primas, on Christ the King. I was then a seminarian in Rome and I remember very well when the Pope publish­ed this beautiful encyclical.

It is true that Jesus Christ is a King. He is King by nature because He is true God and by reason of the union of the divine nature with the human nature. Jesus Christ is really King. He is also King by conquest, by His Cross. By His sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus Christ became King of all souls. He gave His life and blood to save all souls. Therefore He is King of all souls. But you know, now, in our time, many refuse to acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus Christ. They are opposed to the principle of the Kingship of Jesus Christ. It is a great sadness when we know that after the Second Vatican Council the Vatican authorities requested many Catholic countries to abandon the idea of the Kingship of Jesus Christ as they did in your beloved country, Ireland.

I remember when I visited Ireland many years ago, I met your great President, Eamonn De Valera. He was a great Catholic. He certainly would refuse to say that Jesus Christ is not King of Ireland. But after the Council the Vatican authorities requested from the President of Ireland to abandon the principle of the Kingship of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is no more publicly acclaimed King of Ireland; it is the same in many Catholic countries. The Vatican asked, for example, Italy, Colombia and other countries to abandon the prin­ciple that the Catholic religion is the public religion of the State. Why?

Jesus Christ is King of all countries, of all men; so, we must remain in, and profess this Catholic Faith. And we, personally, are very happy to celebrate this great Feast of Jesus Christ, the King, because we have this Catholic belief in the Kingship of Jesus Christ over the whole world, the universal, social Kingship of Jesus Christ. We need to do everything possible to extend this Kingdom of Jesus Christ in our souls, in our bodies, in our families, in our countries. We must extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in our minds by the prac­tice of the Catholic Faith. The Catholic Faith is the obedience to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in our souls. We must extend this Kingdom of Jesus Christ in our wills, by following the laws of Jesus Christ, and in our families, so that He rules all the Catholic faithful.

We must recognize the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and we must also labor to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in our countries. You know that in Protestant countries, the Protestant religion is ac­knowledged as the public religion. For example, in Norway and Sweden the public religion is the Protestant religion. Why, then, do Catholics not have the same rights in Catholic countries? It is extraordinary. How is it possible that the Vatican has asked Catholic countries not to profess them­selves, publicly, Catholic, but only privately? That is incredible. I told this to Pope John Paul II in my audience with him [1978]. That isn't Catholic teach­ing. The teaching of the Catholic Church is that we must do all in our power to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the social Kingdom of Jesus Christ. So, by this change in the Church, many Catholic countries are abandoning the law of Jesus Christ ­Christian law. The law permitting abortion and contraception is a law opposed to Catholic families. We must pray, my dear brethren, we must pray and ask God, by the intercession of the Blessed Vir­gin Mary, that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ will return, will come back in our cities, in our countries.

In heaven, Jesus Christ is King and we pray in the Our father that “Thy kingdom come.” That is a true Catholic prayer.

I hope that you are happy to have taken the decision to remain true Catholics because this is the aim of our Society, of our reaction against the errors of the Conciliar Church. Our reaction is only a Catholic reaction. There is no other explanation for our difficulties with modern Rome. It is because we have taken this decision to remain true Catholics, to keep the true Catholic Faith. We have never changed and cannot change because the Catholic Faith is always the same. During centuries and centuries, the Catholic Faith did not change. It is those who change the Catholic Faith who are the real schismatics, who are heretics. Not we. With the grace of God, we remain true Catholics. We keep all the articles of the Creed, all the seven Sacraments, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass without any change. That is the will of God, of Jesus Christ. That is the true Kingdom of Jesus Christ in our souls, in our families.

We must thank God for the grace to remain true Catholics. It is very important in order to save our souls and the souls of our children.

Today we must pray to Our Lord Jesus Christ, we must pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary to remain true Catholics and to do everything possible to be­come saints. We must come to church frequently, pray in our church, receive the graces of the sacra­ments in order to become saints, to sanctify our souls and to go to heaven with all the members of our families and all those who kept the Catholic Faith here on earth and now enjoy the happiness of heaven.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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A reminder ....