Dear Friends,

As we reflect on this year’s Red Mass at our Mission Church, I am drawn to Fr. General Arturo Sosa’s recent speech in Bogotá, Colombia, on the future of Jesuit higher education–inviting us to consider our charism, context, and camino–as we form people of conscience and compassion for a rapidly changing and complex world. This same framing guided President Julie Sullivan in her Convocation address at the opening of our academic year, calling our community to discern how our shared mission continues to guide us in this time of transformation.

 

Charism 

For more than eight centuries, the Red Mass has marked the beginning of the judicial year, gathering the legal community and their supporters to seek God’s blessing on all who serve in the legal profession and in public life. As Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., our university’s Vice President for Mission and Ministry, reflected in his homily, “the way of justice, is one of drawing together. Of healing rather than harming. Of restoring to life and friendship and shared community.” This spirit of reconciliation animates our Jesuit mission and the work we do at Santa Clara Law, grounded in a faith that does justice. We call to mind our own vocation as counselors and legal professionals of all faiths, shaped by Jesuit education to be agents of reconciliation, grounded in competence, conscience, compassion, and connection.

 

Context

We are so honored and grateful that Most Rev. Andres C. Ligot, JCD, DD (Bishop Andy), Titular Bishop of Croae and Auxiliary Bishop of San José, was able to travel from Rome to preside at our Red Mass. Bishop Andy, a canon lawyer by training, framed the liturgy beautifully and offered a fitting theme for our reflection.

At a time of rapid change, in a world where the rule of law and democratic values are increasingly tested, this celebration centered us in love.

 

Camino

Our camino (our way forward) invites us to continue walking together in discernment. This year’s St. Thomas More Society Red Mass Award recipient, Hon. Patricia Lucas (ret.) reflected beautifully on St. Thomas More’s fidelity to conscience and courage in vocation. Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe E Orobator (Fr. Bator), dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at SCU, and Professor Lisa A. Kloppenberg at Santa Clara Law, offered brilliant insights on how the Church’s growing embrace of synodality, as a process and a mindset based upon unity and inclusion, can serve as a model for the legal profession.

Fr. Bator reminded us: “No longer is the mission of the Church the exclusive preserve of a select few; it is open to the gifts, talents, and wisdom that the Spirit generously bestows on the entire community.” (Orabator, Agbonkhianmeghe E. "No, synodality is not a 'Trojan Horse' that will destroy the church" America, 29 Oct. 2025, https://www.americamagazine.org/faith-and-reason/2025/10/29/synod-synodality-cardinal-muller-trojan-horse/)

Prof. Kloppenberg drew a powerful parallel between synodality and mediation, noting that: “Like effective mediation, synodality prioritizes certain skills or habits…” including:  listening with respect to all participants; enhancing communication; centering others; and hearing directly from those suffering and marginalized, and parties who are grieving, angry, sad, or who feel unjustly treated about issues affecting them deeply.”

 

In that spirit of open-hearted dialogue, I warmly invite you to the 43rd Annual Retreat for Members of the Legal Profession on February 27-March 1, 2026 at El Retiro, the Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos. This year’s retreat theme is Discernment and the Call to Leadership. Fr. Thomas H. Smolich, S.J., JST-SCU’s Rector of the Jesuit Community, will guide us in prayerful reflection on vocation and charism. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Boscia Family, scholarships will again be available for all law students interested in attending the retreat  through a gift made in honor of Dean Emeritus Gerald Uelman.

Special thanks as well go to Michael Manoukian, President of the St. Thomas More Society of Santa Clara, and the St. Thomas More Society team, for collaborating with Santa Clara Law’s and SCU’s Mission and Ministry teams to host this year’s Red Mass. I want to also thank Fr. Julian Climaco, S.J., and the entire Campus Ministry team for the beautiful liturgy.

Finally, I want to offer a special note of appreciation to the law school’s student chapter of the St. Thomas More Society, especially co-presidents Daniel Escovar and Daniel Zertuche, and faculty advisor Prof. Lisa Kloppenberg, for energizing the student chapter and rededicating their efforts to ensure our mission of faith and justice remains strong within the Law School and across the broader legal community. May we all continue to accompany each other in a faith that does justice.

 

With warm regards and tremendous gratitude,

Michael J. Kaufman
Dean and Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law