PROTESTING AT THE RED MASS

George Offerman


The annual Red Mass at St Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C. this past Sunday had plenty of representation from the Supreme Court. Those present were Justices: Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Breyer, Alito and new Justice Sotomayor. Joe Biden, representing the executive branch was also present. The majority of these justices are Catholic, and therefore, would be able to present themselves for communion, which would present an opportunity for Arch Bishop Wuerl to enforce Cannon 915, which stipulates that a person that publicly violates church teachings, in this case abortion, cannot present themselves for Communion.

The protest, lead by pro life leaders Randall Terry, Missy Smith and Dick Retta, focused on getting the message to the Justices that the scourge of this land known as Roe vs. Wade must be overturned and that their Catholic Roots dictate they uphold justice for all. The team arrived at St. Matthew’s cathedral at 8:30 am, and set up our line that included graphic signs, bull horns, and fake blood on our hands.

We had about 75 minutes of preaching time, as all the people had to go through metal detectors to get inside the Cathedral, and also had an opportunity to preach to the justices, who came up individually in chauffeured vehicles. We then had a golden opportunity to preach to the Bishops, who were lined up in procession right across the street from where we were, and had quite a few of the Bishops look at us and our signs. We asked the Bishops to uphold Cannon 915 and to make a statement to those inside how they need to follow the churches teachings.

One of our group members, Joan Mckee, was arrested when trying to get into the mass, and the camera crews there to film the procession quickly went to get this arrest on tape. Joan Mckee was attempting to get into the mass, and was initially turned down due to wearing a pro life tee shirt. We protested her arrest, but they went ahead with it, and this caused a stir amongst the media present and was caught on tape.

After the mass finished, we had more opportunities to get our message out, and preached to the Justices as they left. Randall Terry focused on Vice President Joseph Biden, as Biden snuck out the side door. We then were able to get Sotomayer’s attention briefly by shouting “Woe to you Sotomayor if you do not protect the innocent lives by your judgments on the court.’

We had a priest come up and thank us for our witness. He stated “Many of us are with you, and God Bless You for taking the time and witnessing for the truth. I hope some of them heard your message”. It is gratifying to have some acknowledgment of our efforts from the clergy, and it helps to know some believe we are on the right path.

Overall, we managed to garner attention to the cause of legalized child killing to the Justices and other lawyers in attendance. It is mystifying that we had to do the job of the Church body and so few are willing to take the steps we did, and have been doing for months now. I continue to hope and pray that god sends more warriors to the streets, to finally end this scourging of our land.