The Red Mass, traditionally celebrated every year, is a solemn Mass marking the opening of the judicial year and welcoming all members of the legal profession, regardless of religious affiliation: judges, lawyers, notaries, professors of law and officers of the court. The Red Mass is so called in reference to the colour of the robes and vestments worn in the past by the judges, bishops and cardinals, as well as of the red carpets that were customarily rolled out for the occasion. The term has been retained to the present day.

The Red Mass, traditionally celebrated every year, is a solemn Mass marking the opening of the judicial year and welcoming all members of the legal profession, regardless of religious affiliation: judges, lawyers, notaries, professors of law and officers of the court. The Red Mass is so called in reference to the colour of the robes and vestments worn in the past by the judges, bishops and cardinals, as well as of the red carpets that were customarily rolled out for the occasion. The term has been retained to the present day.

The Red Mass is a symbolic ritual representing the fact that civil justice is subject to “divine justice.” The first Red Mass was celebrated in 1245 in the Cathedral of Paris [4], after which it was adopted in most European countries [5], in England, and eventually in the US and Canada. The Barreau du Québec embraced the tradition in 1895, followed by Toronto in 1929. Montreal first celebrated the Red Mass in the 1940s, and the tradition has now been maintained here for 83 years.

Historically, the Barreau de Montréal had kept up the annual celebration of the Red Mass as an occasion for all the city’s jurists, both practising and retired, to take part in a gathering devoted to communal prayer and individual meditation held in a setting of peace and serenity. This important tradition dating back to the Middles Ages had survived throughout the centuries, in spite of wars, revolutions and the vicissitudes of history. Then, in 2023, the Barreau de Montréal decided to abolish the tradition in the name of secularism. It was at this point that the Société Saint-Yves de Montréal took on the task of coordinating the event and ensuring its continuation under the title, “Red Mass for the Day of the Bar,” or “Red Mass for the Opening of the Judicial Year.”

In 1997, some lawyers of non-Christian confessions raised the argument that, as we are living in a pluralist society, non-Christians should not be discriminated against by Catholics appropriating this ceremony exclusively for themselves. Numerous responses were then heard contesting this rationale, among them that of Me. Émile Colas, who brought the matter before the Honourable Victor Melançon, Superior Court Judge, the Honourable Bernard Tellier, Provincial Court Judge and President of the Bar Association Guy Pepin, QC.

It was explained clearly that the purpose of the ceremony was to place the work of the judicial year about to commence under the aegis of the one God of Christians, Muslims and Jews, and that from that date forward, the organizing committee would announce the celebration of the Red Mass as independent from the Day of the Bar.

At no time did the Catholic dimension of the celebration and its traditional character ever prevent the participation of any member of the Bar or the Judiciary who was of a different religious confession. As Me. Jean Lozeau of the firm Groleau Gauthier Plante s.e.n.c.r.l. made very clear in 2018, “One need not necessarily be a believer in order to participate. Everyone who plays a role in the field of law is welcome, regardless of his or her beliefs.”

The Société Saint-Yves de Montréal, having taken over the coordination of the Red Mass, wishes to extend to you their warmest welcome on Thursday, September 7, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. in Notre-Dame Basilica’s magnificent Sacred Heart Chapel. The Basilica is located at 110 Notre-Dame W. in Old Montreal. Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal will preside.

Everyone is invited to participate and to pass this invitation along to friends and family, whether or not they are members of the legal community. WELCOME!

Me. Alexandre Khouzam, Lawyer (Translated by the Archdiocese of Montreal)