St Mary’s Cathedral has hosted the 95th Red Mass commemorating the beginning of the law term, a tradition dating back beyond 1245 in Paris.
Attended by law students, politicians, and members of the legal fraternity, it reminds lawyers of the values which underpin domestic and international law.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General Hugh McDermott says the Red Mass is “a profound call to act according to Christ’s teachings.”
“This service is important to me personally as it highlights the significance of law and justice in our modern Australian society,” he told The Catholic Weekly.
“After celebrating the special time with our families over Christmas and New Year, the Red Mass is an opportunity to give thanks, to be humble and to renew our commitment as law makers, to carry out our vocation equally and justly.”
An icon of the Holy Family was displayed at the cathedral Mass, which McDermott said had been blessed by Pope Francis in 2018 and Pope Leo XIV in 2025, and had travelled across Europe, Africa, the United States and was now in Australia.
The annual Mass takes its name from the red vestments worn by the celebrant, symbolising the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles at Pentecost as tongues of fire, as well as the scarlet robes traditionally worn by judges attending the Mass in England.
Sydney’s Red Mass is organised by the St Thomas More Association, a group of lawyers inspired by the English judge, politician, and writer St Thomas More.
More, who influenced English politics in his role as a parliamentarian, speaker of the House of Commons, and later Lord Chancellor of England, was a devoted Catholic, spending time with Carthusian monks and is thought to have become a member of the Third Order of St Francis.
More was sainted in 2000 by Pope John Paul II and is the patron saint of statesmen, politicians, lawyers, and those with difficult marriages.
St Thomas More Society president Richard Perrignon says the Red Mass’ purpose is to “invoke the Holy Spirit and guide the minds of all those concerned with the law.”
“From a political perspective, it is the one event in the year when the judiciary meets the church in a religious setting,” he said.
