Catholics for Choice Counters the Supreme Court “Red Mass”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sunday, October 1, 2023
Contact: Ashley Wilson, Catholics for Choice
Phone: (202) 294-4081
Email: awilson@catholicsforchoice.org
Catholics for Choice Counters the Supreme Court “Red Mass”
WASHINGTON – Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, counter demonstrated today’s “Red Mass,” which unofficially kicks off the start of a new Supreme Court term.
Catholics for Choice’s “Green Mass” — chosen because it is the color of the Marea Verde reproductive rights movement in Latin America, and because it is the color a priest should be wearing on this Sunday in ordinary time — is a public witness to make it clear that we see the church’s crusade to influence the Supreme Court as a terrible injustice.
Photos of the event are available here, and the mass recording can be viewed on Facebook. The presider was Roman Catholic Womanpriest Rev. Angela Meyer.
After the mass, Catholics for Choice President Jamie Manson, M.Div., issued the following statement:
“The Red Mass is a prime example of the religious overreach of Catholic bishops into the judicial and legislative branches of our government. Justice-minded Catholics should be concerned about the Supreme Court’s actions, rather than celebrating them.
“The Catholic hierarchy might have celebrated in 2022 with the overturning of Roe v. Wade (after all, all six justices who supported Dobbs are or were raised Catholic). But this year the veil was pulled back as even more people were harmed by the Court and its decisions, from enabling LGBTQIA+ discrimination, to preventing student debt relief, to ending race-conscious admissions practices. These rulings inflict profound suffering on vulnerable people, in blatant violation of the Catholic social justice principles that command us to care for those on the margins and put their needs first. Perhaps that’s a victory for the bishops — but for the average Catholic who cares about abortion rights, voting rights, LGBTQIA+ equality, and democracy, it’s unconscionable.
“Sadly, the church has become an increasingly less welcoming place for the faithfully formed views of everyday Catholics. Some U.S. bishops are up in arms about a global meeting of church leaders in Rome starting this week, convened by Pope Francis to discuss difficult but important issues like power structures, the need for greater inclusion of women and LGBTQIA+ people, and combatting racism — to the point that some are openly opposing it, or even warning of schism.
“Since we can’t have these important conversations at the Red Mass, Catholics for Choice gathered outside — staging a prayerful counter-protest in the form of a ‘Green Mass’ across the street from the cathedral. We call on church leaders and Supreme Court justices inside to account for the untold suffering they have unleashed on marginalized people, the very same people Jesus commanded us to serve first. People of faith see the church’s crusade as a terrible injustice and condemn the consequences of moving the court to the radical right.”
Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.
