New legal year ushered in with Red Mass

Scotland’s legal fraternity gathered at St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Edinburgh on 25 September to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the new legal year.

“These men and women serve the nation in a high office and come here to ask the Lord’s blessing upon this year’s work that they carry out on our behalf,” said Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews & Edinburgh in his homily.

“Know that we appreciate the difficult and complex tasks that you have and the duties that you perform – which are very onerous – on behalf of us all and that you be assured of our prayers and our support for all that you do to apply the law of the land with virtue and with justice and with mercy.”

The Red Mass has its roots in Medieval Scotland and gains its name from the robes worn by Scots judges. In attendance this year were Lord Drummond Young and his fellow Senators of the College of Justice, Lords Uist, Dohertyand Matthews as well as Lady Carmichael.

Also present were Gordon Jackson QC, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and Austin Lafferty representing the president of the Law Society of Scotland. This was in addition to many sheriffs, Queen’s Counsel, solicitors, trainee solicitors, paralegals and law students.

Noting that this is a Jubilee Year of Mercy, Archbishop Cushley suggested that Pope Francis wishes to remind us that mercy is primarily a divine attribute.

“The Holy Father is reminding us that mercy does not come from us – it comes from God,” he said.

“Mercy is something that resides in Almighty God and not just mercy but justice too. All these things start in Almighty God and end in Almighty God.”

This is why the law of the land should “reflect enteral principles by which humanity may live out its days in this world,” he added.

Those eternal principles of mercy and justice are made incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, said the Archbishop.

“In Jesus of Nazareth we are able to see the face of God and it is a merciful face, it is a loving face.”

He concluded by urging those present to “love virtue” so that justice and mercy can be upheld in the coming legal year.

“We are to establish virtuous laws and we are to apply them virtuously in our legal system,” he said. “We need virtuous laws and we need virtuous lawyers.”

The Red Mass was followed by a reception in the Cathedral Hall which was supported by Thorntons Investment Management Ltd.

For more information on the Red Mass or to register interest in attending next year, please contact Jamie Kerr at jkerr@thorntons-law.co.uk.