The annual Red Mass derives its name from the color of the vestments worn by priests during the celebration. Red is the color prescribed because the service is a Mass of the Holy Spirit — a reminder of the fire that is a symbol of God’s Holy Spirit.
Posted on 12/22/2004 8:30:02 AM PST by NYer
DENVER, December 21, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This November, the controversy over pro-abortion Catholic politicians has ended the association of the Catholic Lawyer's Guild with the Denver Archdiocese. Every year, various branches of a Catholic lawyer's association around the world gather to celebrate their profession with the Red Mass, a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages. In most dioceses, the bishop or his delegate celebrates the Red Mass and the Guild gives an award to a Catholic politician.
This year, the Denver group has invited pro-abortion Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, who won a Senate seat in the in the past election, to receive an award named for St. Thomas More, the group's patron. During his election campaign Salazar said that he would "defend the constitutional right" to abortion and that he did not support "mandatory waiting periods, spousal consent, biased counseling requirements or other extreme limits on abortion rights."
The Guild, in deciding to honor a pro-abortion politician, has raised the ire of the Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput who led the charge in the US episcopacy against John Kerry and other Catholic politicians' support of abortion. In response to the Guild's action, the diocese has pulled auxiliary bishop Jose Gomez from saying Mass at the Guild's annual dinner next month and has told them to find other accommodations for the dinner than the diocese's John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization.
The Guild has voted to carry on in defiance of the Archbishop. "Our group felt we wanted independence," said Laura Tighe, the guild's incoming president. "We are obviously very distinctively Catholic, but there's a great difference on how we exercise our Catholicism. We understand the ramifications of our decision, and we will go on."
In June the US bishops, meeting in Denver, made a statement on the role of Catholic Church in politics which said that no Catholic group may give "awards, honors or platforms" to Catholics "who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles."
"It's reasonable to expect a Catholic organization to be consistent with Catholic teaching," Sergio Gutierrez, the archdiocese spokesman, said. Gutierrez said that the Archbishop is interested in finding appropriate Catholic lawyers who may be held up as "true examples and authentic examples of exemplary Catholic lawyers."
Chaput has not let up his attention to this issue with the election of George W. Bush as President. His latest article appeared in the November issue of Crisis Magazine, in which he wrote, "The abortion issue cannot be avoided. It's the central moral conflict of this moment in our nation's history. Every abortion kills an unborn child. Every abortion leaves a woman emotionally scarred. Every abortion is a grave act of violence. All of these things fundamentally damage the common good."
Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Denver Archbishop says those who Support Abortion "Rights" Cannot be Catholic
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/jul/04071402.html
The annual Red Mass derives its name from the color of the vestments worn by priests during the celebration. Red is the color prescribed because the service is a Mass of the Holy Spirit — a reminder of the fire that is a symbol of God’s Holy Spirit.
Catholic Ping - please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Bump!
Bump.
"We are obviously very distinctively Catholic, but there's a great difference on how we exercise our Catholicism."
They are not the Thomas More kind of Catholic, obviously. He gave his life because he refused to go along with the politicians.
The groups patron St. Thomas More is being made a mockery of...Imagine these dog lawyers who say they are Catholic awarding this low life Senator an award in Thomas More's name...This shows me that so called good Catholic lawyers do not understand what Christianity is all about..They blaspheme the very essence of what they stand for..... They just don't "get" it!!!!
Shameless. Mind-alteringly shameless.
Poor St. Thomas! I'll bet he wishes he'd been made patron saint of typists, exterminators, or pizza cooks ... anything but lawyers!
Methinks some lawyers misunderstood the meaning of "Red Mass."
I think that all practicing, believing Catholics should insist on being called "Senator" since all these guys like Kerry, Leahy, Daschle and others insist on calling themselves "Catholics". You could throw Pelosi into the mix, but then you'd only get to call yourself "Congressman" and that's not nearly as rewarding as being a Senator.
A person cannot be both "pro-choice" and Catholic. I suggest they exercise their "choice" by choosing another church. I think the Unitarians are hiring and any and all beliefs are optional there.
Oh, well said!
Extreme?????
What's the significance of thee hat on the clergyman on the left?
"Extreme".... yeah, I caught that too.
One can only imagine how they characterize parental notification. Extremely extreme?
Obviously so. I think that's how much 'reform' was allowed by the laity. They were already uncatechized, at least too many in influential parish positions. But in their own way, with the 'new order' liturgy, all the nonsense presently allowed in that and otherwise, the bishops are not THAT different in turning their back on More and Fisher, as it were. They would not allow the world to dictate to the Faith. These bishops, generally, do. But they should be given credit at least for this. At the minimum, they should take this stand - at the very minimum. And they did.
Why be Catholic when you can just be an unaffiliated obfuscating lawyer instead? < /sarc >
Then direct that no Mass be said within the Denver Archdiocese that connects in any way to the organization.
Then publicly establish a St. Thomas More Society under the archbishop's control as the archdiocesan lawyer's organiztion and transfer the perks to the new group.
Then prohibit the use of Catholic facilities anywhere in the archdiocese by the offending group and/or its leaders and look for reasons to personally discipline its leaders publicly since this little pseudoCatholic lawyer's soviet insists on carrying on its scandals in public.
Given Salazar's public apostasy, his own bishop should formalize things with a nice, public excommunication until he repents.
An excellent punch list!
More exactly, an excellent punch OUT list!
Byzantine Catholic Bishop!
The Catholic Church is both Western and Eastern.
When the apostles brought the Gospel to the major cultural centers of their day the essential elements of religious practice were inculturated into those cultures. This means that the essential elements were clothed in the symbols and trappings of the particular people, so that the rituals conveyed the desired spiritual meaning to that culture. In this way the Church becomes all things to all men that some might be saved (1 Cor. 9:22).
There are three major groupings of Rites based on this initial transmission of the faith, the Roman, the Antiochian (Syria) and the Alexandrian (Egypt). Later on the Byzantine derived as a major Rite from the Antiochian, under the influence of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. From these four derive the over 20 liturgical Rites present in the Church today.
A Roman Catholic may attend mass at any of the Eastern Catholic Churches and fulfill his Sunday obligation. Several of us RC in the forum attend an Eastern Catholic Church. The liturgy is usually chanted, lots of incense, NO communion in the hand, NO Eucharistic ministers, NO liturgical dancing, NO contemporary music.
If you have never attended the Divine Liturgy at an Eastern Rite Church, you are missing out on one of the oldest traditions in the church. To locate a church in your community, click on this link:
Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S.
Eastern Catholic Bishops attending the Enthronement of The Most Reverend Gregory John Mansour, Bishop of the Eparchy of St. Maron in Brooklyn NY. (Remember the Christmas Carol - 'We Three Kings')
So, who will say Mass?
This appears to be a 2003 event! Can anyone clarify?
I don't know why the bishops of the Eastern Rites wear crowns. I suppose that it represents the royal priesthood. My understanding of the pointed mitres of Latin Rite bishops is that they symbolize the tongues of fire over the Apostles' heads at Pentecost. The two "tails" of the mitre represent the books of the Old Testament and the books of the New Testament.
The proper symbol of episcopacy is not so much the mitre as the ring and pastoral staff. It is only after the service of consecration and the mass are finished that the consecrating prelate asperses and blesses the mitre and places on the head of the newly consecrated bishop, according to the prayer which accompanies the act, the helmet of protection and salvation, the two horns of which represent the horns of the Old and New Testaments, a terror to the enemies of truth, and also the horns of divine brightness and truth which God set on the brow of Moses on Mount Sinai. There is no suggestion of the popular idea that the mitre symbolizes the tongues of fire that descended on the, heads of the apostles at Pentecost.
When I was stationed there, I attended the Maronite Church in Fayettville, NC. They took the liturgy seriously, and they were a healthy parish with many young children.
What a kook. That can't be coming from the mouth of a sincere or serious Catholic. Unbelievable.
Not to defend any lawyer, but most likely a small group hijacked this award without general knowledge. Let's see how the members react.
Archangel Michael Maronite Church. It's a beautiful liturgy, isn't it! I've been attending a Maronite Church for nearly a year. In fact, this week we have been meeting at 7pm to chant and pray the Christmas Novena. Midnight Mass is .... at 'midnight'! You know, then, that the Consecration is in Aramaic, using the words and language of our Lord at the Last Supper. It is also one of the oldest liturgies in the Catholic Church. St. Peter brought it to Antioch. The Maronite liturgy retains its Jewish roots, more than any other.
Thanks for the post!
Shakespeare was right. "First thing, let's...."
On second thought, we could leave one or two around. Merry Christmas!!!
I second your motions.
Deo Gratias for Archbishop Chaput.
We could call this a good first step!
Bump that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.