The Kingship of Christ
Clongowes based Irish Jesuit Fr Bernard McGuckian is the host of a new worldwide television series based on the history of Christ the King. Fr Barney is currently in Rome (November 2025) at the launch of the series with Pope Leo XIV in attendance.
The Kingship of Christ series was written and produced in Ireland by EWTN Ireland, and is being shown globally on the Catholic network’s global platform. Filmed on location in Rome during 2025, the four-part series marks the centenary of the establishment of the Feast of Christ the King in 1925 by Pope Benedict XI in his encyclical Quas Primas ».
In the series Fr. McGuckian works with experts Fr. Dominic Holtz OP, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in the Angelicum in Rome, and Fr. Mark Lewis SJ, Rector of the Pontifical Georgian University in Rome. Together they explore the meaning and origins of the term ‘kingship’ in Sacred Scripture. They trace the origin of the Kingship of Christ from biblical times, through the nineteenth century to the inauguration of the Feast. And they explore how His reign continues to be realized in the world today.
Commenting on the series Fr McGuckian says, “The anniversary of the establishment of this Feast day is a very important occasion. The circumstances that led to the creation of the Feast are truly remarkable, and include the story of a French woman called Marthe de Noaillat who almost single-handedly brought the importance of Christ’s Kingship to the attention of Pope Pius IX. She wrote to every Bishop in the world to seek their input and support.”
Fr Barney says there are many similarities between the post World War I era in which the Feast of Christ the King was established and the current wealth of problems facing the world today, including war, revolution, unrest and political tensions. “The papal encyclical, Quas Primas, was Pope Pius XI’s profound response to the rising tide of secularism and nationalism in the early 20th century. It was written in the aftermath of World War I and the tumultuous revolutions between 1917 and 1923, which resulted in the downfall of the Hohenzollerns, Romanovs, Habsburgs, and Ottomans.”
Aidan Gallagher, series producer and Chief Executive of EWTN says, “The Kingship of Christ calls us to unity with oneself, unity with one another, and unity, then between nations. We are called to have that allegiance as a subject of Christ the King, and follow his principles of peace, truth and love with ourselves and with one another.”
The series was shot in five locations in Rome relevant to the development of the theology of Christ the King. These were St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican, the Gesù (main Jesuit church in Rome), the Scala Santa (Holy Stairs), the Basilica of Santa Croce Gerusalemme, and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King.”
The series can be viewed here at: https://ewtn.ie/kingship/»
