This evening, an annual legal event takes place that may slip past you unnoticed: The St. Thomas More Society Red Mass. (It will be at St. Mary’s Basilica, 231 N. 3rd St., Phoenix, at 5:30 pm.)

The Society is an association of Catholic lawyers. The Catholic Mass they host annually has been held since the Middle Ages. In it, judges, lawyers, law school professors, students and others worship together. As Wikipedia indicates, those at the Mass request guidance from the Holy Spirit for all who seek justice. The event offers “the opportunity to reflect on what Catholics believe is the God-given power and responsibility of all in the legal profession.”

Of interest this year is the priest who has been invited to offer the sermon. Timothy Broglio is “Archbishop of the Military Services, USA.” For those who are not in the church and were wondering, Yes, the Catholic Church does have a leader focused on that particular part of the international congregation. Its website is here.

Coat of arms of the Archdiocese

According to the Archdiocese:

“The Archdiocese for the Military Services was created by Pope John Paul II to provide the Catholic Church’s full range of pastoral ministries and spiritual services to those in the United States Armed Forces. This includes more than 220 installations in 29 countries, patients in 153 V.A. Medical Centers, and federal employees serving outside the boundaries of the USA in 134 countries. Numerically, the AMS is responsible for more than 1.5 million men, women, and children.”

More on this special Archdiocese is here.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio at Al Asad Airbase, Iraq

Archbishop Broglio has served and studied around the world, including in Rome, Paraguay, Ivory Coast, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. He has been Archbishop of the Military Services since November 2007. (Read more about him here.)

(I will be unable to attend the Mass, but I’d appreciate hearing from someone who does; I am curious about Archbishop Broglio’s message. I wrote last year about an event sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society.)

Thanks to attorney Denise Blommel for the reminder about the Mass. (Denise is an employment law attorney. More about her and her practice is here.)

Archbishop Timothy Broglio