Sponsored by the Catholic Lawyers Guild
The 27th annual Red Mass sponsored by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Diocese of Lansing is scheduled for Monday, October 1st at St. Mary Cathedral in downtown Lansing at 5:15 pm. The main celebrant of the Mass will be Bishop Earl Boyea.
The Red Mass is celebrated annually to invoke the aid of the Holy Spirit as the Michigan courts begin a new term. Participants pray that judges, lawyers, law school professors and students, law enforcement and government agencies may exercise prudence and fairness in their duties throughout the year as protectors and administrators of the law. Originating in Europe during the Thirteenth Century, the title for the Red Mass was inspired by the red robes worn by English jurists and the clergy in ceremonies to honor the Holy Spirit.
Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court, judges of the Michigan Court of Appeals, and judges of the circuit, district and probate courts in the ten counties of the Lansing Diocese are invited to appear in black robe and receive a special blessing. Lawyers, law students, lay persons, their spouses and friends are all warmly welcomed to attend.
After the Mass the Catholic Lawyers Guild will hold its annual banquet at the St. Mary Parish Hall, adjacent to the Cathedral. At the dinner Author and Administrative Law Judge Lisa K. Gigliotti will present the Guild’s prestigious St. Thomas More Award to Sister Attracta Kelly, O.P., Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, in honor of her tireless efforts to shield children and adults from human trafficking, to protect women from violence, and to advocate for immigrants in need of asylum.
The St. Thomas More Award is presented to an individual who has exemplified the Christian ideals of service and sacrifice in his or her personal and public life, and who has made significant contributions to the fields of law and justice.
Sister Attracta Kelly was born in Ireland, where she learned at an early age the importance of caring about others and working to bring about justice. Not long after arriving in the United States at the age of 18, Sister Attracta entered the Adrian Dominican Sisters Congregation. Her early ministries included serving as a Catholic school teacher and principal in the southern states of Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, and working as a community organizer for a low-income African American community in Tennessee.
During her 1986 to 1992 term as General Councilor for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, the Congregation provided temporary housing for refugees of the civil war in Guatemala and El Salvador as they sought asylum in Canada. This experience prompted Sister Attracta to earn her law degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC in 1996. During law school she served as an intern with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network in Washington, DC.
After receiving her law degree she worked for Jesuit Refugee Services in Ireland, where she helped people from the African nations, Romania, and the former Soviet Union to find asylum.
In 1999 Sister Attracta returned to the United States and began her work as Director for the Immigrants Legal Assistance Project at the North Carolina Justice Center in Raleigh. She also served on the Anti-Trafficking Board for the state where she worked to gain legal status for women and children who were brought illegally and against their will to the United States for immoral purposes. In recognition of this work Sister Attracta received the Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award from the North Carolina Bar Association in 2006 and the Nancy Susan Reynolds Award for Advocacy in 2010. In 2010 the Carolina Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association established an annual scholarship in her name.
Sister Attracta was elected Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 2010, where she is currently serving a six year term. She currently trains Sisters and volunteers from the community to assist “Dreamers”-undocumented young adults who were brought to this country as children-in filing for two year legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
There is no registration or cost to attend the Red Mass. To make reservations for the banquet ($35 per person, $20 for law students and Adrian Dominican Sisters) please RSVP by Monday, September 24th, 2012. Registration forms are available at http://home.catholicweb.com/lansingcatholiclawyersguild/. For questions contact Laura Skriba at 517-277-8200 or laura@skribalaw.com.