Law enforcement officials, first responders, police officers, firefighters, and others gathered May 3 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Northwest Washington, D.C. for the annual Blue Mass to honor those who serve in law enforcement, to invoke God’s blessing on them and to pray for those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

“Together in prayer and in faith we ask the Lord’s blessing on all those who care for us as neighbors and friends,” Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory said. “Our police officers and first responders represent an important part of our society and your families are always near to the heart of the Church, throughout this archdiocese.”

Cardinal Gregory told law enforcement officials, “You provide safety and hope for all of us, and from the heart I say ‘thank you.’”

Cardinal Gregory was the principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass. Concelebrants included Father Andrew T. Wakefield, pastor of St. Patrick Parish; Msgr. Salvatore A. Criscuolo, chaplain to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Park Police and the U.S. Capitol Police; and Father Raymond L. Fecteau, chaplain to the Montgomery County Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, the Maryland National Park Police Montgomery County, the Rockville Barrack of the Maryland State Police, and the U.S. Secret Service.

Cardinal Gregory noted that “these can be very difficult times to be a person engaged in law enforcement and public safety” because they face “dangers not just from violence and natural disasters… but a charged, skeptical attitude that places a cloud over police officers and first responders.”

“The greatest challenge … is holding on to your humanity,” the cardinal said. “Criticism seems to deny you are people with feeling, with consciences and with families who love you and whom you love.”

He said that law enforcement officers and first responders “are most often people of faith who depend on God’s mercy and understanding no less than the people you attempt to serve.”

Cardinal Gregory also remembered those who lost their lives in the line of duty, saying “the Church is honored to extend a word of compassion and consolation to each family whose loved ones have offered their own lives in heroic service to our community and to our nation.”

He urged all those at the Mass to “embrace in a very special way all those members of our police forces, first responders and their families who have died in these past few years.”

“The Church is made up of people, ordinary people of faith. You have come here today because you are such people of faith and hope,” the cardinal said. “Pray in a particular way for all law enforcement officers who have lost their lives or been seriously injured.”

Cardinal Gregory also recognized those priests who serve law enforcement officials and their families.

“Even in the face of the shortage of priests, the Archdiocese of Washington is honored to have priests who serve as chaplains and pastors to our law enforcement personnel,” he said. “They are special clerics for you and for your families and like any good pastor they have a special love for you and your families.”

This is the 28th year that the Blue Mass – so named for the traditional color of the dress uniforms of police officers and firefighters – has been offered to honor those who serve in law enforcement and public safety

Traditionally, the Mass is offered in May each year close to or during National Police Week (which this year will be observed May 15-21). In 2021, because of ongoing pandemic concerns, the Mass was offered in September. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, the Mass was cancelled.

Father Wakefield noted that the Mass was being offered on the feast day of St. Philip and St. James. Those apostles, he said, “served the Church faithfully and paid the ultimate sacrifice for their faith. May they inspire each of us to work for peace and justice every day.”

Among those scheduled to attend the Mass were Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security; Christopher Wray, director of the FBI; Paul Abbate deputy director of the FBI; James Murray, director of the U.S. Secret Service; Ronald L. Davis, director of the U.S. Marshals Service; Marvin Richardson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Anne Milgram, administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Representatives from more than 25 federal, state, county and local police and fire departments and family members and friends of law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty also attended the Mass.

Prior to the Mass, honor guards and flag bearers from the various local, state and federal agencies that serve throughout The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and neighboring Virginia processed into the church.

At the end of the Mass, the names of 60 law enforcement officers from local, state and federal departments who died in the past year – along with an additional 14 from previous years – were read. Each name was accompanied by the date of their “end of watch” – the day they died. They were remembered by two bugler playing “Taps” followed by bagpipers playing “Amazing Grace.”

“It is fitting that we gather in faith to pray for our beloved deceased … (and) we hold their loved ones in our hearts and in our prayers,” Father Wakefield said. “It is imperative we support all those courageous men and women who risk their lives day in and day out.”

As the congregation departed, they sang “America the Beautiful,” which includes the verse: “America! America! God mend thine every flaw. Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law.”