The Red Mass is back to bringing Brooklyn’s legal community together

October 31, 2022 Rob Abruzzese

The Catholic Lawyers Guild and the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn held the annual Red Mass ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn last Wednesday. Pictured from left: Dominic Famulari, president of the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association, Hon. Robert Miller, associate justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department, and Gregory Cerchione. Eagle photos by Mario Belluomo

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The Catholic Lawyers Guild and the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn continued their tradition of hosting the Red Mass on Wednesday at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn, where they invited all members of the legal community together for a special prayer.

That’s what makes it such a special event in Brooklyn. It is not just lawyers and judges, it is all courthouse and support staff, as well as members of the various faiths.

“This event has always been about bringing everyone in the legal community together,” said Dominic Famulari, past president of the Catholic Lawyers Guild and current president of the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association.

“It gives us a real positive way to start the new season and we get to see members of our community that might not come to monthly meetings.”

Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre were invited, and wore their ceremonial capes, as were the members of the Knights of Columbus and Columbiettes, to join the members of the clergy and judiciary, who are also asked to wear their robes to the event.

The annual Red Mass event, held annually at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn, is back after the COVID pandemic. Eagle photo by Mario Belluomo

Members from the participating organizations – including Betsey Jean-Jacques, president-elect of the Catholic Lawyers Guild, and Dominic Famulari, past president of the Columbian Lawyers Association, are invited up to the pulpit and read bible verses.

The Red Mass is a Catholic, European tradition that goes back hundreds of years to the 13th Century. It was brought to the United States in 1928 when Cardinal Hayes of New York called the legal profession together in Manhattan.

The event is held every year at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, which was built in August of 1823. In 1853, Bishop John Loughlin was appointed as its first bishop. St. James continues to serve today as the seat of the Bishop of Brooklyn.