Tickets for the dinner are sold out. In the event there are cancellations and/or guildelines are changed to permit more attendees, please sign-up for the waitlist. If seats become available for the dinner, we will contact you. You are still free to attend the Red Mass in person.
The Thomas More Lawyers’ Guild is privileged to organize and sponsor the annual Red Mass in Toronto, which marks the opening of the Courts. The Red Mass brings together members of the Ontario Judiciary, lawyers, law students and others associated with the administration of justice. We invite you to attend the 2021 Red Mass, in person at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica. A dinner will follow, in person at the Royal Canadian Military Institute. We are honoured to welcome as our guest and keynote speaker The Honourable Russell Brown, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. We invite you to join us for the Red Mass and Dinner celebration.
When: Thursday, October 21st 2021 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, 65 Bond St., Toronto
~ Celebrant, His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins
Seating is limited - WorshipSafe Guidelines will be followed
If you are not able to attend in person, the Red Mass will be live-streamed and may be viewed here: https://www.stmichaelscathedral.com/live/
Dinner at 6:45 p.m.
Where: Royal Canadian Military Institute*, 426 University Avenue, Toronto
~ Keynote Speaker, The Honorable Russell Brown, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
Dinner tickets are limited to 50 people.
*Royal Canada Military Institute - Proof of Vaccination Policy
All guests must provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination for entry to the RCMI. When you enter the RCMI through the 426 University Avenue entrance, proceed to the Front Desk for COVID-19 screening. In addition, please be prepared to present your proof of vaccination along with a government issued piece of photo identification (e.g. Driver’s License, Health Card, Passport). The RCMI will not retain this information and it will only be checked upon entry.
HIS EMINENCE THOMAS CARDINAL COLLINS
Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario, where his father was the circulation manager of the Guelph Mercury and his mother was a legal secretary. He is the only son and the youngest of three siblings. His childhood home was situated behind The Church of Our Lady, where he attended and served morning Mass.
Cardinal Collins considered being a teacher or a lawyer but was profoundly inspired by his Grade 11 English teacher, Father Newstead, at Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School, who knowing him, suggested that he should consider the priesthood. In 1969 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (English) from St. Jerome College in Waterloo. In 1973 he obtained two degrees, a M.A. (English) from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Theology from St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario. That same year he was ordained to the priesthood on May 5, 1973 in the Cathedral of Christ the King, Hamilton, by Most Reverend Paul Reding.
While studying in Rome, specializing in sacred scripture and the Book of Revelation, he received his Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1978 and a Doctorate in Theology from the Gregorian University in 1986.
After holding various academic appointments, in 1997 he was appointed as Bishop of Saint Paul, Alberta. Two years later, he was named the Archbishop of Edmonton. In 2001, while in Edmonton he was named Apostolic Administrator of Saint Paul. In December 2006, he was appointed as the Archbishop of Toronto, and installed in January 2007.
In 2007 Cardinal Collins became a ex-officio member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Permanent Council, the Chancellor of the University of St. Michael's College and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, in Toronto. He is the Chair of the Board of Governors of St. Augustine's Seminary, and the Chair of the Board of Directors of Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary, Catholic Charities and Catholic Cemeteries and is a Trustee of ShareLife's Advisory Board. In 2008, Cardinal Collins was elected President of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario.
During his time thus far in Toronto, Cardinal Collins has served the global church through his membership with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Congregation for Catholic Education and Commission of Cardinals for oversight of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR). He has participated in the Synod on the Eucharist, and the Synod on the Middle East, served as an Apostolic Visitor in Ireland and also as the Delegate of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith for Anglicanorum Coetibus.
On January 6, 2012, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI announced the appointment of Cardinal Collins to the College of Cardinals. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals as Cardinal Priest of San Patrizio on February 18, 2012.
THE HONOURABLE RUSSELL BROWN
Justice Russell Brown was born in Vancouver on September 15, 1965, and raised in Burns Lake, British Columbia. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia in 1987 and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Victoria in 1994. He also received a Master of Laws in 2003 and a Doctor of Juridical Science in 2006, both from the University of Toronto. He has been married since 1994 to Heidi Brown and they are the parents of two children.
Justice Brown was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1995 and to the Bar of Alberta in 2008. He was an associate at Davis & Company (now DLA Piper LLP) in Vancouver from 1995 to 1996 and at Carfra & Lawton (now Carfra Lawton LLP) in Victoria from 1996 to 2004. From 2008 to 2013, he was associate counsel to Miller Thomson LLP. From 2004 to 2013, Justice Brown was a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta, both as a professor (tenured from 2009) and for the last two years as an associate dean. His main areas of practice were commercial law, medical negligence, public authority liability, insurance law and trusts and estates.
Justice Brown is the author of a treatise on claims under negligence law for economic loss, a contributing author to a textbook on public authority liability, as well as the author or co-author of over 40 published law review articles, book chapters, review essays and forward essays on tort law, property law and civil justice. He is a regular contributor to academic and professional conference proceedings in Canada and internationally, and in Canadian judicial education seminars. Justice Brown presently serves on the editorial board of the University of Toronto Law Journal and the advisory board of the Legal Writing Academy at the University of Ottawa. Prior to his judicial career, he served on various committees of the Law Society of Alberta, including those on credentials and education, and civil practice, and was a member of the governing board of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice. He also served as chair of the Health Law Institute of the University of Alberta, chair of the University Appeals Board and Professional Review Board at the University of Alberta, and served on the Advisory Board to the Salvation Army in Victoria and in Edmonton, including as chair in Edmonton.
On February 8, 2013, he was appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. He was then appointed to the Court of Appeal of Alberta on March 7, 2014. As a Court of Appeal judge sitting in Edmonton, Justice Brown also served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories and a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Nunavut. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on August 31, 2015.
THE HISTORY OF THE RED MASSThe Thomas More Lawyers' Guild of Toronto traces its history back to the 13th century with the initiation of the Red Mass. In the Cathedral of Paris in 1245, a Mass was held to invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit on the judges of the Ecclesiastical Courts. It is believed the first liturgy was celebrated in honour of St. Ives of Brittany, the patron saint of lawyers. The practice of the Red Mass spread to England in 1310 during the reign of King Edward I. The entire Bench and Bar attended this special Eucharist at the beginning of the spring term of Court. The Name "Red Mass" became a tradition because of the red robes worn by the judges and the red vestments worn by the priests. The Red Mass has been held annually in Westminster Cathedral, London, since 1904. The Red Mass was first held in Toronto in 1925. Its sponsorship was assumed by the Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel in 1931 and by The Thomas More Lawyers' Guild of Toronto since 1968. One of the primary objectives of the Thomas More Lawyers' Guild of Toronto is the sponsorship of the Red Mass.