Members of the legal profession, taking inspiration from the Beatitudes, can combine a hunger and thirst for justice with “the need to be merciful, meek, a peacemaker and pure of heart,” said Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry of Los Angeles Oct. 4 at the Red Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento.

The Mass, celebrated by Bishop William K. Weigand, is the traditional gathering of members of the legal profession and elected and appointed officials to invoke the aid of the spirit of God in their deliberations for the year to come.

Bishop Curry’s homily pointed to the story in Isaiah where the prophet looks forward to the time when “the spirit from on high is poured out on us.”

The bishop said during the past few years, when the church in the United States has found itself in the eye of a storm of criticism over the scandal of clergy sexual abuse, he has witnessed “that spirit being poured out on our church in the faith, fidelity, strength and generosity of Catholic parishes and parishioners.”

“In the midst of my difficult years, my ministry to them has been the most extraordinary and joyous time in my own life as a priest,” Bishop Curry told the lawyers and public officials at the Mass. “I give thanks to God for this experience as I also do for your presence here today.”

Bishop Curry has been regional bishop for the Santa Barbara pastoral region of the Los Angeles Archdiocese since 1994. A constitutional historian specializing in the English and American background to the First Amendment, he is the author of two books on church and state in America.

In his homily, he noted that addressing the crisis of sexual abuse of minors has preoccupied the church in the past few years.

“There can be no doubt that this must be addressed both within the church and elsewhere, that justice for victims and prevention for future abuse have to be priorities,” he said. “However, how to combine these priorities with justice and fairness is very much a public question.”

Bishop Curry said in his opinion the Catholic Church has been singled out and targeted to bear much of the burden of the problem of sexual abuse of minors, even though the problem has manifested itself across society in a multitude of groups.

“I think that when Catholics are singled out and targeted for punishment for a problem that has been endemic throughout society, all are threatened and civil liberties for all groups are put in danger,” he noted. “In asserting this, my purpose is to speak out on behalf of all groups, to call for a renewed defense of civil and religious liberty that applies to us all.”

He added, “My hope is that my concern will resonate with you, and that my comments will act as a catalyst for many to take up this cause of civil and religious liberty with renewed energy of the protection of our common liberties.”

At a dinner event following the Red Mass, Douglas Kmiec, professor of constitutional law at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., addressed members of the bench and bar.

He said the worldwide Catholic Church has been the “unconditioned champion” of religious freedom and that the distinctive contribution of the church in the United States has been that “it links religious freedom to the truth of the human person.”

Bishop Weigand at the dinner presented Superior Court Judge James Mize with the diocese’s first St. Thomas More award, honoring a member of the legal profession who has shown integrity in the practice of law, community leadership, and faithfulness to Gospel values.

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