Leo XIV openly rejects the reign of Christ the King over states and nations

This article was originally published on July 8, 2026.

“Now, this authority, perfect in itself, and plainly meant to be unfettered, so long assailed by a philosophy that truckles to the State, the Church, has never ceased to claim for herself and openly to exercise. The Apostles themselves were the first to uphold it, when, being forbidden by the rulers of the synagogue to preach the Gospel, they courageously answered: ‘We must obey God rather than men.'”

— Pope Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, “On the Christian Constitution of States”

In his recent “encyclical letter” Magnifica Humanitas, Leo XIV publicly rejected the reign of Christ the King over states and nations.

In this document, he affirms that civil society possesses “autonomy” from religion, including in its “values” and “laws,” and that the state has “full autonomy” from the Catholic Church.

Errors regarding the relationship between Church and state, and the authority of Christ and His Church over the world He created, are to be found throughout Magnifica Humanitas. ---More...

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