Catholic lawyers gather in Lilongwe as Red Mass marks 125 years of evangelisation in Malawi

Malawi’s legal community will come  together in Lilongwe on Saturday 26 September for the annual Red Mass, a liturgy that has long marked the opening of the legal year in Catholic tradition and drawn the judiciary, the bar and the Church into a shared act of prayer for the administration of justice.

The Mass, to be held at St Patrick’s Parish in Chimutu, Area 18, has been organised by the Catholic Lawyers Association of Malawi (CLAM) and will be celebrated by the Rt Rev Vincent Mwakhwawa, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, as principal celebrant, assisted by concelebrating priests.

This year’s liturgy carries particular symbolic weight, falling under the theme “Rooted in Christ, Serving Justice and Truth: Celebrating 125 Years of Evangelisation in Malawi” – linking the Church’s own long history in the country to the vocation of those who serve within its courts.

The order of service will open with the traditional penitential act and hymns sung by the choir, before readings drawn deliberately to speak to those charged with upholding the law.

The first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, will be the prayer of Solomon asking God for the wisdom “that sits by your throne” to govern with a right and just spirit and to judge without partiality – a passage long associated with the vocation of judges and lawyers within the Catholic tradition.

The second reading, from St Paul’s Letter to the Romans, will urge the congregation to offer themselves as “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” and to resist conformity to the age, being transformed instead by the renewal of the mind.

The Gospel, from St John, will recall Christ’s promise of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit of truth, sent to guide and teach – an image with evident resonance for a congregation of advocates and legal practitioners gathered under that same title.

In the collect, Bishop Mwakhwawa is expected to pray that God would pour out the Holy Spirit “upon all who serve in the administration of justice,” asking for judges, magistrates and lawyers to be granted “wisdom in discernment, integrity in judgment and courage in the defence of truth,” so that they might safeguard the dignity of every person and protect the weak and vulnerable.

The prayers of the faithful will extend that theme across seven petitions, praying in turn for the Church, for those who govern the nation, for judges, magistrates and lawyers, for the poor and vulnerable seeking justice, for Catholic lawyers specifically, for Malawi as a nation, and for the faithful departed who had served in the administration of justice.

The liturgy will draw on the Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs III, “Jesus the Way to the Father,” with its emphasis on Christ as the way, the truth and the life who gathers men and women into one family.

The prayer after Communion will ask that those present be sustained “in the administration of justice,” remaining faithful to truth and labouring tirelessly for justice and peace.

The Mass is expected to conclude with a solemn episcopal blessing invoking wisdom, courage and the guidance of the Holy Spirit over the assembled lawyers, before the recessional procession.

Announcements and speeches will be followed from CLAM president Counsel Alfred Majamanda and from Bishop Mwakhwawa as guest of honour.

The Red Mass tradition, observed in Catholic legal communities in various forms across the world, takes its name from the red vestments historically worn to mark the occasion, and traditionally serves as an invitation to those who work within the justice system to reflect on the moral and spiritual dimensions of their vocation.

For Malawi’s Catholic lawyers, this year’s gathering placed  that reflection within the wider anniversary of the Church’s presence in the country, framing the pursuit of justice and truth as part of a longer story of faith taking root in Malawian life.