Red Mass Delivers Call to Protect the Unborn

America's newest Cardinal, Daniel DiNardo, challenged public officials in attendance at Sunday's Red Mass to be a voice for the voiceless.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Six justices from the Supreme Court, Vice President Joe Biden and two Cabinet members heard a call to protect the unborn during the annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC on Sunday. They were joined by dozens of other judges and public officials for this Eucharistic service which, for 56 years, earmarked the beginning of the Supreme Court's fall season.

Newly appointed justice Sonia Sotomayor joined Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito Jr. for the Mass. Also attending was Justice Stephen Breyer, who is Jewish. The sixth Catholic justice, Clarence Thomas, was out of town for a wedding and couldn't attend.

The two Cabinet members attending were Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was also present for the Mass.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, from the Archbiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas delivered the homily, which is posted in its full form at the article. He challenged lawyers to be a voice for all clients, including the unborn.

"A person can forget that the basis of that knowledge is something much more natural in the human condition, that the law and lawyers are around because justice among human beings is always an issue.

"There are always smoldering wicks and bruised reeds needing our human attention, an attention that cries out and says that even sophisticated knowledgeable 'human' lawyers need reminding, need a purifying divine fire from the Lord, both in their personal lives and in their profession itself. It is that reality that brings us to praise, reflection, and prayer this day.

"They are poor and wealthy, confused and lucid, polite and impolited," said DiNardo, the newest Cardinal in the U.S. "In some cases, the clients are voiceless, for they lack influence; in others they are literally voiceless, not yet with tongues and even without names, and require our most careful attention and radical support."

Outside the Cathedral, those arriving were met by Randall Terry and other pro-life activists who were present to give voice for the unborn and the failure of public officials to protect them. Randall Terry addressed the crowds who were waiting to gain entrance with a bullhorn. Directing his comments to the Vice President, members of Congress and the Court as well as any who had provided support for abortion, he declared, "How dare you present yourself for Communion with the blood of babies on your hands?"

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The Mass was celebrated by Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl along with concelebrants Cardinal DiNardo, Tim Broglio of the Archbishop of the Military Services, Bishop Paul Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington and others.

The Red Mass, named as such to signify the flame of the Holy Spirit, began in the United States in 1953 as the Church's official blessing for both the Supreme court and other civic leaders, including diplomats, in the D.C. area. It is sponsore by the John Carroll Society, an organization of Catholic professionals.

The ancient roots of the Red Mass go back centuries where it marked the official opening of the judicial year of the Roman Rota. In the 13th century French King Louis IX (St. Louis) designated Sainte-Chapelle, the perfect Gothic chapel on the Île de la Cité in Paris as the chapel for the "Messe Rouge."

Currently the religious make-up of the Supreme Court is six Catholic, one Protestant, and two Jewish justices.

The high court, which began its new term on Monday, will be addressing a number of significant issues including state and local gun control as well as a war memorial in the shape of a Christian cross which has stood on federal land, owned by the Interior Department, in the Mojave Desert for more than 70 years.

The memorial has been challenged by an individual on the basis of the Establishment clause, so Congress sold the land under and near the cross to a private party. The court must determine whether that sale actually solves the constitutional predicament and whether the person who challenged the presence of the memorial can still sue.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online. He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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