Congratulations to Attorney John J. Bursch, winner of the 2023 Saint Thomas More Award from the Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Diocese of Lansing in honor of his work defending religious liberty.
“I’m a little overwhelmed,” said Bursch at the award ceremony in Lansing, October 3, “Saint Thomas Moore is an idol of mine and, so, to even be mentioned in the same sentence as him is a little unreal for me.”
“When I think of the Saint Thomas More, I think of his willingness to sacrifice his own life rather than compromise his faith and I just hope that's an example I can live up to and that all the other Catholic lawyers in this diocese can do the same.”
A son of Saint Michael parish in Grand Ledge, John Bursch is a former Solicitor General for the State of Michigan who is now senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy with the Christian legal advocacy organization, Alliance Defending Freedom.
“I’ve argued 12 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court including Obergefell, the same-sex marriage case, and I’ve focused on these issues all the time, trying to keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel in our culture,” said Bursch.
Last night’s award ceremony followed the 38th annual Red Mass at Saint Mary Cathedral. For nearly nine centuries, the celebration of the Red Mass has invoked the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon the work of the courts at the beginning of a new term. The principal celebrant and homilist was Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing.
The Saint Thomas More Award is named in honor of the 16th century English statesman who forfeited high office, and ultimately his life, as Chancellor to King Henry VIII in order to uphold the truth of marriage and defend the Church’s divine foundation in the face of the monarch’s break with Rome in pursuit of canonical approval for his adulterous relationship with Anne Boleyn. Saint Thomas was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935.
“Saint Thomas More presents us with the ideal that we Catholic lawyers are aiming at,” explained the Diocese of Lansing’s General Counsel, Will Bloomfield, in his introductory remarks last night.
“And John Bursch is worthy of tonight’s award not because he is a professionally excellent lawyer with uncommon legal acumen, and he certainly is that, but because John is, inspired by his Catholic faith, using his talents as a lawyer to defend Christian culture against the constant attacks of our increasingly secularized world.”
• Additional reporting from “An Attorney for All Seasons” by Renee Lapham Collins, Faith Magazine, October 2023. Read: https://faithmag.com/attorney-all-seasons
• For more information on the Diocese of Lansing’s Catholic Lawyers Guild go to: http://www.lansingcatholiclawyersguild.com/
