Denver Archdiocese, Catholic Lawyers Guild at odds over guild honor

Published: 2005-01-27

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Denver will no longer support the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Colorado, including providing a venue and a celebrant for its annual Red Mass, after the group refused to give Archbishop Charles J. Chaput veto power over who the attorneys honor, said the guild's president, Denver attorney Laura Tighe. The disagreement with the archbishop developed after guild members chose then-state Attorney General Ken Salazar as the recipient of their St. Thomas More award in November 2003. Salazar, a Catholic, is a Democrat who supports keeping abortion legal. Last year, he was elected as Colorado's junior member of the U.S. Senate. Sergio Gutierrez, spokesman for Archbishop Chaput, told Catholic News Service the archbishop's concerns about vetting the guild's honorees as well as his request that the group take up public advocacy were reasonable expectations of an organization that calls itself Catholic. Tighe told CNS the conflict with the archbishop has been heart-wrenching. She added that she considers the guild a refreshing alternative to traditional bar associations, which she said tend to be competitive and political. Members place high value on the Catholic connections it provides, she said.

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