The feast is a relatively recent addition to the liturgical calendar, instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.

In 1970, its Roman Rite observance was moved from October to the last Sunday of Ordinary Time and thus to the end of the liturgical year.

Depending on the year, Saint Andrew's Day, significant in some cultures, may fall prior to Advent Sunday.

The Lutheran, Anglican, Moravian, Methodist, Nazarene, Reformed and United Protestant churches also celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, which is contained in the Revised Common Lectionary;[5] the Methodist, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches often observe this as part of the liturgical season of Kingdomtide, which runs between the Fourth Sunday before Advent and the Feast of Christ the King.

[11] In November 1926, Pope Pius XI gave his direct assent for the priest of a promising young parish in Mount Lookout, Cincinnati, to establish the first church dedicated to Christ under the title of King.

[12] The campus is an unapologetic love letter to its royal namesake, featuring a towering Byzantine mosaic of Christ, crowned and robed, above the high altar where Catholic practice usually expects a crucifix (most Protestant institutions simply employ symbolic crosses).

This instance illustrates a marked change of tone that arose as a product of the Vatican's endorsement of this feast and the associated devotional.

[13] In his motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis of 1969, Pope Paul VI amended the title of the Feast to Domini Nostri Iesu Christi universorum Regis (Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe).

In the Church of England, the Feast of Christ the King falls on "the Sunday next before Advent,"[18] when "[t]he year that begins with the hope of the coming Messiah ends with the proclamation of his universal sovereignty.