Catholics to mark feast of Christ the King on Sunday

CEBU, Philippines — Catholics in Cebu are set to join their counterparts worldwide on Sunday, November 26, to mark the feast of Christ the King.

The event will also mark the official closure of the Catholic liturgical year and the beginning of a new year which is the Advent in preparation for Christmas, the feast commemorates the reign of Christ as King of the universe.

Instead of the accustomed centralized activity led by the Cebu archdiocese, the event will be celebrated in different parishes to bring closer to the Catholic communities the celebration of concluding the “Year of the Parish,” according to Archbishop José Palma.

“(For) the past years, we have archdiocesan activities (but) this time, we challenge the parishes and we encourage them to hold parish-based activities,” said the 67-year-old prelate.

The end of the liturgical calendar this Sunday also culminates this year's pastoral thrust of the Philippine Catholic Church—the year of parish as communion of communities.

“Perhaps, doing it in a parish level would also be a sign of how the parish itself can be reflective of that communion… we commonly have big celebrations but there are also good points in making it more intimate or more parochial in nature,” Palma said.

According to church history, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, commonly referred to as the Feast of Christ the King is a relatively recent addition to western liturgical calendar.

It was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

In the Philippines, each year is devoted to a particular aspect translated to the nine pastoral priorities of the Catholic Church.

The nine-year journey leads to the Jubilee year in 2021, which marks the fifth centenary or 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines that came to the country’s shore through Cebu in 1521.  (FREEMAN)