Bishop Marshall to lawyers: Be humble, gracious in argument

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

Before entering Notre Dame Seminary in the 1990s, Alexandria Bishop Robert W. Marshall Jr., a Memphis native, earned a law degree at the University of Memphis and then worked for 12 years as an attorney in Memphis and St. Louis.

So, as the homilist at the 70th annual Red Mass that traditionally marks the beginning of the judicial year, Bishop Marshall told the judges, attorneys and law clerks assembled in St. Louis Cathedral Oct. 3 that he had some insight into the challenges of their shared profession.

One of the major concerns of the last three decades, Bishop Marshall said, was the coarsening of public debate that seemingly has grown more vicious with each passing year.

“Our common ground should draw us together, but over the last three decades, and certainly in the past few years, we have become an increasingly divided nation,” Bishop Marshall said. “We have always had our disagreements, of course, but often with the help of members of the legal profession, we settled those disagreements with civility in negotiations or in court. Now, it seems, the civility of the past is but a forgotten memory.”

Bishop Marshall drew on the second reading from the fourth chapter of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, in which he made a plea to Christ’s followers to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love.”

“Of all the things they taught us at law school, I dare to say that patience, gentleness and humility were not at the head of the curriculum,” he said. “Indeed, these are not the virtues that are valued at all in our throwaway culture.”

Bishop Marshall said the Red Mass calls the judicial establishment together to remain humble and “hear the voices that the Holy Spirit will make manifest.”

“Are we truly prepared to hear the cries of those affected by crime, victims and perpetrators alike, when each seeks only to be accorded human dignity?” he asked. “Are we truly prepared to hear the cries of the sick, the elderly, the child in the womb, the immigrant, the refugee or displaced person who seeks only our protection of their fundamental, God-given right to life?”

Responding to people in need with humility, gentleness and patience should be “the blueprint of our response.”

“We must recover the civility and mutual respect that were once the hallmarks of the legal profession,” Bishop Marshall said. “Too many in our time are following the examples of politicians and cable news pundits – yes, many of whom are lawyers – as they deride and belittle those with whom they disagree.

“They seek not to persuade opponents with facts and rational arguments but rather attack with lies and innuendo those they view as enemies. These days, it seems, victory is not achieved through persuasion but through annihilation. As officers of the court, as children of God and as disciples of Jesus Christ, we must be better than that.”

Eric Derbes, president of the St. Thomas More Catholic Lawyers Association,  said he was pleased the fall judges’ conference, which honored the memory of late LSU law professor Frank Maraist, could be held in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The judges concluded the Mass by reciting a Prayer to St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, asking for his help “to be a little more like you.”

The prayer, in part, read: “For the greater glory of God and the pursuit of justice, help me to be accurate in analysis, strict in study, correct in conclusion, candid and kind, honest with adversaries, able in argument and steadfast in my faith. Sit with me at my desk … and stand beside me in court, so that today, I shall not lose my soul in order to win a point.”

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