sometimes the President of the United States. Each year, at the Brunch following the Red Mass, the Society confers its Pro Bono Legal Service Awards to thank lawyers and law firms that have provided outstanding service. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was Jewish, used to attend the Red Mass with her Christian colleagues earlier in her tenure on the Court, but later stopped attending due to her objection to the use of images of aborted fetuses during a homily opposing abortion. The first Red Mass in the United States was celebrated at Saints Peter and Paul Church (Detroit) in 1877, under the auspices of what is now the University of Detroit Mercy. The tradition was resumed in 1912, and has been held annually since. This Red Mass is the oldest continuously held in the United States. The better-known Red Mass in New York was first celebrated in 1928. The first Red Mass in Boston was celebrated on October 4, 1941 at Immaculate Conception Church under the auspices of Boston College. A Red Mass is also celebrated at St. Joseph's Cathedral in the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, at the University of San Diego, and at the Basilica of the Assumption in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. A Red Mass was first observed in Washington, D.C. in 1939 at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It continued as an annual event there under the auspices of the law school of the Catholic University of America. It was held in January to coincide with the opening of Congress. In 1953 it was moved to St. Matthew's Cathedral, but continued to be held at the beginning of the year until 1977. The University of Notre Dame ordinarily celebrates a Red Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart each fall semester, at which the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend typically presides. Australia The St Thomas More Society for Catholic lawyers, founded in Sydney in 1945, holds a Red Mass annually. See also Blue Mass References External links Mass in the Catholic Church Catholicism and politics Religion and politics Christianity and law Religion and law Catholic liturgical law