St. Thomas More patron of the Red Mass

Published: September 26, 2023

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will celebrate the 29th Annual Red Mass at noon, Friday, Oct. 6 at Christ the King Church in Little Rock for judges, lawyers, law professors and students and public officials to pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance in the administration of government and justice through the intercession of St. Thomas More. 

This year, the St. Thomas More Award will be presented to Judge Milas "Butch" Hale and Jim Badami for their dedication to the principles of St. Thomas More.

Lunch will follow in the Family Life Center at 1 p.m. for $25 per person. Lunch tickets may be purchased online via PayPal or mailed to: St. Thomas More Society, PO Box 1426, North Little Rock, AR 72115. Purchase tickets by Wednesday, Oct. 4.

This event is sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society of Arkansas, which is a Catholic organization for attorneys, judges, law professors and others working in the legal profession. For more information, contact Connie Phillips, chair of the Red Mass committee, at cbphillipslaw@gmail.com or call her at (501) 680-6919.

The Arkansas chapter of the St. Thomas More Society began in 1999 with the first Red Mass in the Diocese of Little Rock. Each year it coincides with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Red Mass the first week in October. To learn more, read Arkansas Catholic.

The organization's patron saint, St. Thomas More, was a lawyer, literary scholar and chancellor of England who refused to approve King Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage and establishment of the Church of England. He was beheaded for high treason in 1535. His feast day is June 22.