The annual Red Mass for legal, judiciary and government professionals was celebrated Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral.

The Mass, which is open to the public, invites the faithful to pray for their brothers and sisters serving in the legal profession, interceding for their guidance, strength and recommitment to the highest principles of the profession for the good of all citizens. The tradition dates to 1245, when it was started by Pope Innocent IV.

This year’s Mass was attended by several local attorneys, judges and state office holders, including justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio and Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

Several legal professionals participated in the Mass, including lectors Sean McCarthy, assistant director for the Ohio Department of Veteran Services; and Edgar Vidales, auditor for the diocesan tribunal, which hears cases of marriage nullity.

Bishop Earl Fernandes served as the celebrant.

The Red Mass is so called because of the color of the vestments. Red is a liturgical color associated with the Holy Spirit and martyrdom. Historically, robes worn by attending judges were a bright scarlet color.

At this year’s Red Mass, the Thomas More Society of Columbus awarded Bishop Emeritus James Griffin the Lifetime Achievement Award. Bishop Griffin, who celebrated his 90th birthday in June and served as bishop of Columbus from 1983 to 2004, holds both civil and canon law degrees. 

Bishop Fernandes accepted the award for Bishop Griffin, who was unable to attend.

The celebration began with a procession by the Columbus Police and Fire Pipes & Drums followed by a fanfare performed by the Cathedral Brass.

The Red Mass is organized by the local chapter of the Thomas More Society. Established in 1998, the society is a national public interest law firm working to preserve the heritage of American liberty by defending life, family and freedom.

Its namesake, St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, served as lord chancellor of England in the 1500s. He opposed King Henry VIII’s separation from the Catholic Church. 

Hundreds of noblemen at the time sided with the king to save their lives. Sir Thomas More would not betray his conscience, which ultimately cost him his life.

The Thomas More Society’s Columbus chapter consists of about 100 members. Members represent various disciplines of legal practice.

Columbus Police and Fire Pipes and Drums lead the procession for the Red Mass on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at St. Joseph Cathedral.

The local chapter restarted the practice of celebrating a Red Mass in 1985. The Mass was well attended for many years, but the celebration took a hit after the COVID-19 pandemic and numbers have since dwindled.

Kim Shumate, who began this year as president of the local Thomas More Society, said the organization is working to spread the message that, while the Mass is celebrated for legal professionals, all are invited to attend.

She described the Red Mass as “one of the times on the calendar that the Catholic Church really wants to celebrate the role that all of these critical people play in our society and support it, and invite everyone to participate.”

The society welcomes individuals to “come and support the lawyers and the judiciary and elected officials who are doing work for them every year” and “pray that they all do the best that the can for the people of Columbus,” Shumate said. “Everybody should want to do that.”

The organization is in the process of discerning its next steps. Shumate said leaders would like to brainstorm new ideas while maintaining the mission of and honoring St. Thomas More.

Although event attendance has declined, she said the local Thomas More Society continues to receive positive support.

“We’ve always had good support, which is nice,” she said. “The Catholic lawyers in town really do support the organization.

“We just need to really start thinking about more ways to be visible and sort of live out that mission a little more fully through the year.”

The society primarily supports the Red Mass and an Evening of Reflection. For the latter, members gather for dinner and a legal professional is invited to speak on an issue of faith and law.

The Red Mass is an especially unifying event for the Thomas More Society’s members.

Judges were among those from the legal profession attending the Red Mass.

The Mass is intended to be a celebration, Shumate said, and a time to think about the Catholic faith’s meaning in regard to the legal profession.

“One of the things that essentially binds the members is this commitment to celebrating the profession every year and bringing people together in a reverent way to think about the higher calling and higher purpose of all of the work that we do all year, especially public officials,” she said.

The Evening of Reflection is also a key event. As its name suggests, the evening provides members an opportunity to reflect on an aspect of the practice of law as a Catholic attorney.

“Lots of other legal issues come up from time to time,” Shumate said, “and, ‘How do they think those things through? From a faith perspective, how do you practice law?’”

She said the event addresses questions such as living the Catholic faith in the legal profession and the pressures that often accompany that.

“Those are really interesting questions. And, I think, also something that the society members share is a real interest in that and sort of thinking those issues through,” she said.

The Evening of Reflection has not taken place for several years. Shumate said the society will focus on “reinvigorating” the event.

“There’s certainly capacity to do more, but we just have to sort of think about what those members are excited about, and certainly what any new members are excited about,” she said.

Before serving as president, Shumate was the organization’s vice president for several years. She said she has been part of the organization for about 10 years.

Outside of being an officer for the society, Shumate works as the associate vice president for strategic initiatives in the Office of Human Resources at Ohio State University. She leads a group of employees in charge of managing human resource operations at the university.

Shumate previously served in Ohio State’s Office of Legal Affairs as in-house counsel for 16 years. 

As an attorney representing the university, Shumate said, she was in charge of labor and employment and labor and employment litigation practice. In that role, she managed employment-related cases for the university.

She also worked as an attorney at the Porter Wright law firm, which has locations in several Ohio cities and other states.