Archdiocese of Washington celebrates annual Red Mass ahead of Supreme Court term

CNA Staff, Oct 7, 2024 / 12:15 pm

The Archdiocese of Washington on Sunday celebrated its annual Red Mass ahead of the opening of the Supreme Court’s October 2024 term, a liturgy that the archdiocese said invokes “God’s guidance and blessing on justices, judges, diplomats, attorneys, and government officials.”

Washington Archbishop Cardinal Wilton Gregory was the principal celebrant at the Mass, while Deacon Darryl Kelley offered the homily. The assembly sang the “Star-Spangled Banner” prior to the opening of the Mass.

Attendees at the liturgy included Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. as well as associate Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general, was also in attendance.

Red Masses are offered for those who work in all legal professions. The practice dates back to the 13th century.

The Washington archdiocesan Red Mass, held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in downtown Washington, is sponsored by the John Carroll Society, an organization of Catholic professionals. The group has been sponsoring the Mass for over 70 years. 

Kelley in his homily said the Mass was not a “mere social event at the beginning of the judicial year.”

“Today, in this nation’s ongoing work to form a more perfect union in justice, genuine liberty, and the common good, we praise God for the blessings and guidance of the spirit of truth and gifts,” Kelley said.

It is “no coincidence,” Kelley said, that the Red Mass first began centuries ago “when the foundation of our law today was being developed.” 

“And the foundation of our law is the common law,” he said, “which is rightly grounded in fundamental principles and right reason.” 

The Red Mass serves as a “recognition that there is a higher, timeless, unwritten, transcendent law of justice, such that law, per se, is something that is discovered, or received — not arbitrarily created or decreed,” the deacon noted. 

Quoting the 13th-century English jurist Henry de Bracton, Kelley noted that God “is the author of justice.”

The Mass was preceded by remarks on the history of the John Carroll Society by board of governors member Liz Young. 

In addition to the annual Red Mass, the John Carroll Society also sponsors a yearly “Rose Mass,” meant to “invoke God’s blessings on the medical, dental, nursing, and allied workers and the many health care institutions in the Archdiocese of Washington.”