Lawyer honored by St. Thomas More Society of Maryland sees hand of God in fight for religious liberty

On New Year’s Eve 2013, while Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was aboard a train bound for New York City to help Miley Cyrus drop the ball in Times Square, a legal brief filed just hours earlier by Mark Rienzi was making its way into her hands.

Rienzi and his team had filed what he called a “Hail Mary” brief at 6 p.m. on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor, who faced millions of dollars in potential fines beginning Jan. 1, 2014, for refusing to comply with a federal mandate requiring their employee health plan to facilitate coverage for contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs and devices – services contrary to their religious beliefs.

Despite the late hour, Sotomayor read the brief around 10:30 p.m. and granted an emergency temporary injunction protecting the sisters while their appeal proceeded. For Rienzi, the extraordinary sequence of events offered powerful evidence that God “really is guiding and helping” the work of lawyers and judges.

“If that was a Disney movie, I wouldn’t believe it,” Rienzi told a crowd of about 75 gathered at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park.

“The Little Sisters have had that relief that has continued the entire time.They have never paid a penny in fines, and they have never violated their religious beliefs.”

Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, a public-interest law firm, and a professor of law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., recounted the story Nov. 4 as he accepted the “Man for All Seasons” award during the St. Thomas More Society of Maryland’s annual banquet.

The evening brought together members of the legal profession to celebrate their vocation in the context of faith, beginning with a Red Mass celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori. The annual liturgy, held at the start of a new judicial year, is dedicated to law professors, law students and judges.

Kelli Knight, president of the Thomas More Society of Maryland, praised Rienzi as an accomplished attorney and educator.

“When I started researching him, I saw that his students at Catholic University continually vote for him as professor of the year,” Knight said. “So not only is he a fantastic lawyer with an undefeated record before the Supreme Court, he’s beloved by his students at Catholic University. He’s really, really phenomenal. We are honored to have him.”

During a reception before dinner, Rienzi told the Catholic Review that he was honored to speak to the Red Mass crowd and the St. Thomas More Society.

“These are people trying to use the gifts God gave them to do good in the world,” Rienzi said. “It’s really an honor to be able to be with them and talk with them.”

In his homily at the Red Mass, Archbishop Lori emphasized that the pursuit of justice requires more than professional expertise. It also demands prayer, moral courage and a commitment to the dignity of every person.

“We are here this evening because the work of justice is too important to be undertaken without prayer,” the archbishop said. “The decisions made in courtrooms and law offices affect the lives of real people, their families and their communities. The law requires knowledge and professional skills. But its faithful administration also requires wisdom, integrity, courage and compassion.”

Those who serve the law must resist the pressure to choose what is “expedient over what is right,” he said.

“The Lord warns us that such choices are not easy, but costly,” the archbishop said. “Your work, after all, is not just a career, it is a calling. A calling to serve our neighbors while contributing to the common good.”

With the nation marking its 250th anniversary this year, Archbishop Lori also encouraged those gathered to reflect on the “freedoms and ideals” the country has promised but has not always extended to everyone.

“Patriotism does not require us to ignore our nation’s shortcomings,” Archbishop Lori said. “Upholding justice is costly. Building a just society requires sacrifice, perseverance and the willingness to place human dignity and the common good above personal advantage. This is why we celebrate the Red Mass. To ask the Holy Spirit to guide us because we know that professional expertise alone is not enough. We seek wisdom to discern what is right, courage to act upon it and humility to recognize that our work is part of something greater than ourselves.”

After Mass, Knight expressed gratitude for the archbishop’s continued support of the society and his willingness to celebrate the liturgy.

“It’s really nice to get together with colleagues, judges, and other people in the legal profession to get together and focus on what’s important,” Knight said. “I loved the archbishop’s message of the Holy Spirit, the responsibility we have as lawyers. What a great privilege it is to be part of the legal community in America.”

In his closing remarks, Rienzi returned to the theme of divine guidance, acknowledging that even the most capable legal team cannot control how a case ultimately unfolds.

Although he has a team of “smart lawyers” who work hard and are good at their job, Rienzi said, the responsibility of his firm is to do its best work while remaining attentive to what God is asking of them.

“We’re in charge of just doing the best job that we can to help the most people and do what we think God wants us to do. We are not in the driver’s seat,” Rienzi said.

He then returned to the story of the Little Sisters, which he said illustrates how events can unfold in ways that defy explanation.

“It was really true and it was pretty inexplicable as we were going through it but in hindsight, you can kind of see the hand of God or the Holy Spirit or Providence steering things in a good way. That’s really been the story of our fight for religious liberty at the Beckett fund.”

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org.

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