(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following homily was delivered by Archbishop Thomas A Donnellan on Sunday, August 8, at the Red Mass on the occasion of the national meeting of the American Bar Association in Atlanta. The Red Mass was celebrated at Sacred Heart Church.)

The Catholic Lawyers Guild, and indeed the Catholic Community of the Church of Atlanta, rejoices in this notable gathering of members of the bench and bar, come together here to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our city and our Archdiocese are proud that in this bicentennial year of the founding of our nation, Atlanta is the scene of the national Meeting of the American Bar Association.

The opening prayer of the Mass for the Bicentennial reads: “All powerful service, and to the works of justice and freedom for all. As You have called us from many peoples to the one nation, help us to give witness in our lives to the rich diversity of Your gifts.”

It is particularly fitting that those whose high privilege and solemn duty it is to write, to interpret or to administer the law of our land, should come together in prayer that the Holy Spirit will give them enlightenment and strength so that they may rededicate themselves to the works of justice and freedom for all, and so give witness to the rich diversity of God’s gifts.

It is a classic American doctrine, nobly set forth by Abraham Lincoln, that the new nation which our fathers brought forth on this continent, was dedicated to a proposition. In an hour of crisis for the nation, Lincoln asserted a threatened part of the proposition in the memorable words: “All men are created equal.”

Much earlier, in the Declaration of Independence, our founding Fathers had set forth the equally famous doctrine: "“We hold these truths to be self evident.”

Two hundred years later, in an age when institutions and values are subjected to doubt or even attack, the self-evidence of the truths is sometimes questioned. But it is beyond questioning that the founders of this nation were convinced that there were truths, that they held them, and that they laid them down as the basis and the inspiration of this constitutional commonwealth.

Worth of the Individual…

We, who worship God as Christians in the Catholic tradition, hold with the Founding Fathers that our union is built on the constitutional rock of the dignity and worth of the individual, endowed by his Creator with certain inalienable rights. These principles were set forth in a religious climate. It was a climate favorable to a concept of man as free and equal, with basic rights rooted in the fact that he has been endowed by his Creator with rational nature.

The tradition has its origin in the idea of the human being, created by God, destined to live in the society of his fellow human beings. He is, therefore, bound by the natural law to a reverence for, and an obedience to the legitimate government of the state in which he lived. In turn then, this state must have a reverence for human beings, his life, and his rights, and is equally bound by the natural law.

These terms we use with the facility of habit – human life, human rights, human freedom, human dignity. These are terms taken from the language of our Fathers. When we use them, it is well to make certain what the words meant to our Fathers. For time, and changing cultures and customs, the mutability of human ideas, the emergence of new philosophies, can leave us with the same words expressing much different concepts. Unless words like human life, human rights, human freedom, take meaning from the fact that God is the ultimate source of life and law, they are inadequate to explain the meaning of liberty and law.

There is reason to fear for society and civilization when its members live under a rule of force and fear; when economic interests become more important than other values; when material standards of mass and quantity take precedence over things like quality and excellence; when the state comes to the point of reaching into all areas of the citizens’ life and yet is powerless to achieve rational ends; when law is written, formulated or administered under the uncritical influence of the number of persons favoring, or opposing a policy. When things like this happen, barbarism threatens our civilization whatever the surface impressions of civility.

‘A Pluralistic Society…’

We live in a pluralistic society – a fact in which we sometimes take pride. But it is also a source of problems. When we consider what has been the motivating moral forces of American society it is evident that many American people have discarded their former “Victorian” or “Puritan” or ”Medieval” beliefs. Now they cannot reach a consensus on what are acceptable and morally compelling goals and standards Where there is no agreement on basic beliefs and values, there is difficulty in agreeing on laws. Under the conditions of our democratic procedure, conflicting moral ideas and ideologies tend to neutralize each other in the public forum.

It is well then that you, who are dedicated to the service of the law, seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you reflect on the common law tradition, and recall that the first test of positive law is its conformity with the deposit of values which reason has drawn from the nature of man. It is on these values that we must reflect if our laws and our courts are to provide the justice which our people seek.

‘Make Objective Judgements…’

Our reflection is not conducted in an academic vacuum. As our nation begins the third century of its existence, all of us must look on the facts of the American scene, must make objective judgments as well as seek a recommitment in belief and practice to the principles on which our Republic is founded. We know from observation and experience that millions of our fellow citizens lack equal opportunity and still seek their inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We know that, despite our own best efforts, laws are not always equally administered, justice is too often delayed; sometimes it is even denied.

When any large section of the community asserts that injustice is being done, and makes a reasonable argument to substantiate the assertion, either the argument ought to be convincingly refuted and the claim of injustice thus disposed of, or the validity of the argument ought to be admitted, and the injustice remedied.

It is on this point that I bring to your attention a concern of many of our people that the law of our land is failing to protect a basic human right – namely, the right to life of an unborn child. The decisions of our Supreme Court have broken away from the ethical traditions of our founding fathers, have ignored historical precedents in our jurisprudence, and have effectively removed practically every vestige of the legal protection hitherto enjoyed by the child in the mother’s womb. You, whose vocation is to the law, cannot be indifferent to the problem this raises about a basic right.

The Democratic Party…

In the fabric of our government, the citizen is guaranteed the right “to petition for a redress of grievance.” Yet the Democratic Party, gathered in convention to nominate a president, and approve a platform, took occasion to say to those concerned about this basic issue:

“…We feel that it is undesirable to attempt to amend the United States constitution to overturn the Supreme Court Decision in this area.”

My Brothers and Sisters, you who are committed to the role and the rule of law in human affairs, cannot be blind, or deaf, or indifferent to this problem. It calls for your prayerful and studied reflection, as well as for a conscientious decision about your responsibilities as citizens, and practitioners of law. My words to you are merely a fulfillment of my own obligation to bear witness to the supremacy of God’s law.

We are come together then, not only to reflect, but to pray. Pray for our courts, our judges, our lawyers. Theirs is a heavy responsibility, and the men and women of our age look to them with confidence. Upon them rests the hope of our citizens to pursue their God given rights, attain their human dignity, and live in peace.

The courts are called on to define men’s rights, to adjudicate conflicts. They must uphold the universality of law, so that there is not one law for one class, and another law for another. They must go about their work patiently, and serenely and impartially, not delaying when decisions are to be made, not acting too quickly because of pressure.

Lawyers’ Responsibility.

All lawyers bear a grave responsibility. Civilization flourishes when men respect the law. It is in danger when they become convinced that the law does not protect their rights, or that justice is not being administered impartially, or when the frustration arising from delayed justice cannot be relieved, or when their own economic status places justice beyond their reach.

I have just returned from the International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. Its theme was “The Hungers of the Human Family” and one day was devoted to the question of “The Hunger for Freedom and Justice.” It is my prayer that our coming together this morning, and your deliberations this week, will be some small contribution toward relieving the hunger of the human family for justice and peace.