Catholic World News News Feature

Christ's Kingdom not based on human power, Pope says November 27, 2006

At his Angelus audience on Sunday, November 26, Pope Benedict XVI called attention to the day's Gospel readings, for the feast of Christ the King, and reminded the faithful, "The Cross is the 'throne' from which He demonstrated the sublime regality of God-love."

Christ's kingdom will be fully realized on earth, the Pontiff said, " after all the enemies - and in the last instance, death - have been defeated." Until then, he encouraged the faithful to "freely accept the truth of God's love." The prefect exemplar of that acceptance, he pointed out, is the Virgin Mary. Her humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will in her life, the Pope noted, was the reason that "God exalted her over all other creatures, and Christ crowned her Queen of heaven and earth."

Pope Benedict had conveyed a similar message in a letter to Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, the archpriest of the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, who organized a solemn procession for the eve of the feast day. The Pope remarked that the logic of Christ is not based on "criteria of efficiency and of human power," but on love and service to others.

The Pontiff welcomed the special ceremony at the basilica, noting that the Roman basilicas themselves were reminders of Christ's kingship, since they call to mind the early Christian martyrs who died in the service of their heavenly King.