Bishop Mulvey to judges:
'Yours is an awesome task'

Some 200 people, including 10 judges, attended the annual Red Mass celebrated at the Cathedral on Oct. 2 by Bishop Michael Mulvey to honor those in the legal profession and in elected public office. Bishop Mulvey said, "Yours is an awesome task; to promote justice while promoting order in our society."

"Justice must always be fair in our society, and yet must be imposed for good order and the common good of society. You must never forget the person in front of you is seeking love and has value," Bishop Mulvey said. "The justice we seek is one tempered by love and peace."

He reminded the jurists that every person is created in the image of God and has dignity and that they must not forget this dignity. The bishop also asked the judges to double their effort to help the poor. "Church and state can work together to remedy in some way­–to prevent–these ills in our society," he said.

After the liturgy, Justice Gregory Perkes of the 13th Court of Appeals introduced Richard Thompson, the guest speaker for the evening. Thompson is president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor Michigan. He gained national prominence as a prosecuting attorney for his uncompromising stand against Jack Kevorkian. He has filed numerous federal lawsuits challenging the HHS Mandate.

"There is a war on Christians in America," Thompson said. "The war on Christians has been going on for several decades. It is a covert, subtle war waged with a smile. It has been waged incrementally, by court rulings, by government policies, on top of the actions of the main street media, Hollywood, etc."

He pointed to the Supreme Court as a special player in this war on Christianity. Supreme Court justices, Thompson said, have for a long time been reengineering the Christianization of America step-by-step. It is in the Supreme Court where "the great moral issues are being fought."

He went on to cite a litany of Supreme Court cases that he views as an attack on Christianity. It began in 1962 when the court outlawed school prayer. The following year they outlawed Bible reading in the public schools, while in the same session declared pornography a Constitutional right.

In 1973, the court declared abortion Constitutional. They outlawed the 10 Commandments in public schools in 1980. In 1985 they outlawed moments of silence in the schools because children might use the time to pray. Four years later the court outlawed public displays of the Nativity. In 1993, they outlawed prayers at school graduations and as the new millennium dawned, the court outlawed school prayers at football games.

"All the while Christians…are sitting in their pews silently," Thompson said.

Thompson also talked about a number of cases in which he and the Thomas More Law Center are involved with, including the priest–one of 80–prevented from performing his chaplain duties during the "government shut down." They also have a number of cases pending against the HHS mandate, which he said was an "intentional attack" against the Catholic Church and Protestant churches opposed to abortion.

He said the "deChritianization" of America did not occur overnight and is not going to be stopped overnight. But, if Christians have a chance to stop it, it must start in the courtroom and in the churches.

"People have to speak up," he said. "In this battle, warriors cannot be conscientious objectors."

Addressing the judges and lawyers, he said they have "a responsibility for the future of America."

In addition to members of the legal profession, the priests, deacons and religious in attendance, two Protestant ministers also attended the Mass. Father John Hardie with the St. Mark's Episcopal Church did one of the readings and he and Pastor Anson Nash, executive director of the Corpus Christi Baptist Association, joined Bishop Mulvey, priests and deacons on the altar during Mass. Judge Guy Williams of the 148th District Court read the first reading.