Annual Red Mass honors legal community and remembers responders who were killed on 9/11

Friday, Sep. 18, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — The eighth annual Red Mass in the Diocese of Salt Lake City was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Madeleine Sept. 11 in honor of Utah’s diverse legal community and first responders, and in a special way for the responders who died in the 9/11 attacks. 

The Red Mass, sponsored by the Saint Thomas More Society, was celebrated by Father Martin Diaz, Cathedral of the Madeleine pastor. Concelebrants were Father Langes Silva, diocesan judicial vicar and vice chancellor; and Monsignor Joseph Mayo, pastor of Saint John the Baptist Parish in Draper.

In his homily, Fr. Diaz expounded upon Saint Paul’s teaching of grace, mercy and peace (1 Tim 1:1-2), putting it in the context of 9/11 and conflict in other parts of the world.

“Grace is the relationship we have with God; out of that comes mercy and compassion,” Fr. Diaz said. “We may forgive someone for a wrong they committed, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have to pay the consequences. Out of mercy comes peace, which is unity. Our goal is peace.”

This year’s Red Mass honorees were Gordon Roberts, Judge Christine Decker, Judge Ted Stewart, Judge Royal Hansen, Judge Scott Johansen, retired Judge Joseph C. Fratto, Jr., George Handy and the University of Utah law school Class of 1975, of which Stewart, Hansen and Fratto are members.

Ron Yengich, a criminal defense attorney and also a Class of 1975 graduate, recently was named the Lawyer of the Year by the Utah State Bar. He is one of the organizers of St. Thomas More Society and the Red Mass. 

Criminal defense attorney Gil Athay recalled when Yengich was just out of law school and his law clerk. 

“Ron worked for me before he became a member of the Legal Defenders Office,” said Athay. “He had the same passion, fire and the same belief in the Constitution, even as a young law student. I think it was something that was instilled in him from a very young age. I saw Ron as this fireball young law student, and that has carried over into his private practice. He is filled with passion, with love for the law, and love for the common man. The underdog has always been championed by him and he will continue to do it until the day he dies.” 

Earl Xaiz said, “Yengich was first my mentor, then my law partner and my best friend. He is a great criminal lawyer, with commitment and energy.” 

Yengich, a parishioner of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, is devoted to the parish in many ways, said Willie Green, sexton/sacristan. “He cares about the parishioners and visitors, and assists by giving legal advice and monetarily to those in need throughout the year and at Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Allowing his faith to cross over into his legal practice “is the most important part of what I do,” said Yengich, who frequently attends daily Mass. “I believe the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church are a large part of why I am a defense attorney. I was brought up with those teachings and the ideas that are an important aspect of the Catholic Church’s social justice philosophy. They play out very well in defending people who are charged with crimes, in asking for mercy for them and in trying to understand what we should do with people who are charged with crimes, and then ultimately what we should do if people are convicted of crimes.”

Decker, who was appointed as a Third District Court juvenile judge in 2004, was honored at the Red Mass for her service on the bench; she retired in February. 

Decker chose to go into juvenile law because she wanted to help children; she had been a volunteer for many years in Salt Lake City schools, on the community council at West High School, and “I felt that this was an area of law where I could really make a difference,” she said. 

After graduating cum laude from Georgetown University, she earned a law degree from the University of Utah College of Law. She has worked as a deputy Salt Lake County attorney, a Salt Lake City bail commissioner, an attorney in private practice, and a guardian ad litem in the third District Juvenile Court. 

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Decker worked as an assistant attorney general in the child protection division. From 2009-2011, she served as presiding judge in the Third District Juvenile Court and then presided over a Family Dependency Drug Court.

“The most rewarding aspect of being a juvenile judge is when kids and families who have been off on the wrong track, have had problems, and then are able to change their behaviors and become functioning families and, for kids, functioning citizens,” Decker said.

If she could give children in the community advice, “I would tell them to stay away from drugs, listen to their parents, and get an education,” she said. “Even though they don’t think an education is important, it is one of the most important determining factors in the rest of their lives.” 

Decker is married to Rod Decker, a reporter and talk-show host at KUTV Channel 2.

“[Christine] cared about the kids and worried about doing the best she could for them,” said Rod Decker. “She tried hard to support the kids in her courtroom.”

Judge Decker, a Cathedral parishioner, served as lector during the Red Mass. 

“She is a long-time pillar of the Cathedral parish,” Fr. Diaz said. “As with her retirement from the bench, she retired from teaching in our RCIA program. She remains a lector and a person of wisdom to whom people turn when they need advice, myself included.”