Archbishop: Justice should be administered in obedience to God

J.D. Long-Garía/CATHOLIC SUN

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican, greets Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer following the Jan. 12 Red Mass. Below: Archbishop Burke delivers the homily at the Mass marking the beginning of the legislative year.

Annual Red Mass marks beginning of legislative year

Hundreds of judges, attorneys, lawmakers and public officials crowded into St. Mary’s Basilica Jan. 12 to attend the 40th annual Red Mass.

The Mass marks the beginning of the legislative year and is celebrated in honor of the Holy Spirit.

Many in the congregation were drawn by the prominence of the evening’s homilist, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Roman Catholic canon law.

Read: The text of Archbishop Burke's homily

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Burke Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest court, in 2008. A longtime friend of Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, Archbishop Burke traveled from Rome for his first-ever trip to the Valley in order to address the Red Mass attendees.

The Red Mass was first celebrated during the Middle Ages, when the faithful gathered to invoke the inspiration of the Holy Spirit upon those charged with the administration of justice. In those times, Archbishop Burke said, there was a clear understanding of the essential unity of reason and faith.

Obedience to the law of God, written on every human heart, is the “solid rock upon which the administration of justice rests,” he said.

The archbishop went on to describe the administration of justice in the United States as finding itself in a critical situation.

“More and more, we witness the violation of the most fundamental norms of divine natural law in the policies and laws of our nation, and in the judgments given by her courts,” Archbishop Burke said.

Referring to abortion, stem-cell research, same-sex marriage and a host of other social issues, he offered an unequivocal defense of the sanctity of human life and marriage.

“Justice founded on obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, first of all, must safeguard and defend the inviolability of innocent human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, and the integrity of the faithful and indissoluble union of man and woman in marriage through which spouses, in cooperation with God, create and nurture new human life,” Archbishop Burke said.

Near the end of the Mass, the attorneys present rose to renew their oaths. Led by the Hon. Michael D. Ryan, Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, many in the crowd stood to repeat in unison their oath of admission to the State Bar of Arizona. 

In addition to a number of legislators and other elected officials, Gov. Jan Brewer was also present at the Mass. Bishop Olmsted singled the governor out for her proclamation of a Jan. 17 day of prayer for the State of Arizona. The bishop also had words of gratitude for those who helped pass a slew of pro-life bills during the last legislative session.

“In a special way, I want to express profound gratitude to the legislators and the governor for passing very significant legislation into law last year related to several to several pro-life and rights of conscience issues,” Bishop Olmsted said. “These new laws will go a long way to make Arizona an even better place by protecting women children and the rights of health care workers.”

Maria Salapska, president of the St. Thomas More Society, the organization that sponsored the Red Mass, was pleased with the heavy turnout — an estimated 600.

“We couldn’t have expected any better. I felt touched and moved and in the presence of a great man inspired by God,” Salapska said.

John Jakubczyk, a local attorney and president of Arizona Life Education Corp., was also pleased by the homily of one of the pro-life movement’s staunchest advocates.

“Archbishop Burke is reminding people of the importance that we place on the sanctity of innocent human life. The foundation for our respect for law is that we respect human life and the unborn child has always been protected under the law historically,” he said.

Bradley Hahn, who serves on the board of directors for the St. Thomas More Society, said he wasn’t fazed by a recent story that described Archbishop Burke as “controversial.”

“Anybody is going to be called controversial or divisive who follows the teaching of the Church or who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ,” Hahn said.  “We just have to bear in mind that tolerance is not a virtue. We have an obligation to fulfill the truth. And the truth... is divisive and controversial many times.”