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Moments in
Time
Laying down the law for Christ
By GARY MACY
Lawyers often get a bad rap in our
society, but most ethical issues in our country come to light because of
lawyers who quietly, patiently pursue those who broach not only civil but
ethical principles. Every day it seems we read a new article about corporate
executives caught cheating their own companies. The nightly news shows them
hauled off to court by the police, but it is usually lawyers who have tracked
them down. Lawyers are the ones who attempt to defend the legal rights of the
prisons in Guantanamo. Lawyers are the watchdogs for environmental laws, civil
rights, discrimination and child abuse. In fact, Christianity owes a great deal
to lawyers, or their equivalent in the Roman Empire, rhetors. Not quite lawyers
in the modern sense, rhetors did defend their clients in law cases, so their
profession roughly parallels those of a modern attorney.
Famous lawyer saints would include St. Hilary of Poitiers, St.
Augustine, St. Basil (although he never practiced), St. Ambrose and Tertullian
as well the great Reformation figures St. Thomas More and John Calvin. It would
be hard to imagine Christianity without these brilliant and influential
writers. There are lesser-known saints of the legal profession, however, and it
might do well to remember that lawyers themselves have many advocates pleading
for them before the throne of heaven.
St. Genesius of Arles, for instance, is the patron saints of
lawyers along with the great Hilary of Poitiers. Genesius was martyred during
the persecution of Diocletian in the early fourth century. The story goes that
he was a notary who made shorthand summaries of judicial proceedings for the
public archives (a court reporter, I guess). One day, while performing his
duties in the presence of the judge, Genesius, who was a catechumen, was so
offended by the edict of persecution that was read out that he threw down his
register and quit his profession. He was, alas, beheaded.
Genesius would be neither the first nor the last Christian lawyer
to lose his head in defense of justice. The work of such lawyers continues, and
present Christian lawyers should be proud of their distinguished heritage. The
rest of us might think twice before passing on the latest lawyer joke. We may
need a good defense in the heavenly court someday and, contrary to rumor, that
court is packed with lawyers.
Gary Macy is a theology professor at the University of San
Diego. He may be reached at macy@pwa.acusd.edu
National Catholic Reporter, November 22,
2002
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