Here comes the judge: meet the deacon on the bench

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When the Honorable Marc R. Kellams speaks at the dinner following the Red Mass in Fort Wayne on Wednesday, Sept. 24, he will bring the perspective of a Catholic deacon and a circuit judge in southern Indiana’s Monroe County.

The Red Mass — an ancient custom dating back to the 13^thcentury when the solemn votive Mass began being celebrated annually at the opening of the judicial year — will be held in Fort Wayne at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 24 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Lawyers, judges and civil government officials are invited. Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades will be the celebrant and extends an invitation to all to attend the Red Mass. The Mass, dinner and speaker are hosted by the St. Thomas More Society of Fort Wayne.

Bishop Rhoades will celebrate the Red Mass in the South Bend area on Monday, Oct. 6, at 5:15 p.m. in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame.

Judge Kellams has served as a Circuit Court Judge in Monroe County, Indiana, for 34 years. Since 1983, he has taught trial advocacy at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, his alma mater. He served as a longtime member of the Judicial Ethics Committee of the Indiana Judicial Conference, chaired the committee when it reviewed the ABA Code of Judicial Conduct and made recommendations to the Indiana Supreme Court for revisions to the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct to provide clearer direction and comments to help guide the ethical decision making of judges.

Judge Kellams has given a number of lectures and moderated panel discussions for judges on the Code of Judicial Conduct.

The topic of Judge Kellams’ talk after the Red Mass, which will follow the dinner, is “The Balance of Faith and Profession.” His talk will explore his approach to his two vocations while keeping clear lines between Church and state consistent with ethical guidelines applicable to judges and attorneys.

Deacon Kellams, an ordained deacon of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, serves St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bloomington…

…He said his calling to the diaconate is a difficult concept to describe “and always sounded a little pretentious for me to state; as though God chose me as especially worthy,” Deacon Kellams noted. “Those of us in the ministry know only too well how unworthy we truly are, even though when called we respond. Nonetheless, a calling is a feeling, a longing, a tugging at the heartstrings to serve God. It is the confidence after much contemplation and prayer that we must surrender to it.”

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