By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
The annual White Mass will be celebrated on Oct. 22 at 5:30 p.m. by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz at the Cathedral of the Assumption, 433 S. Fifth St.
All health care professionals of any faith are invited to attend.
Dr. Fred Williams — president of the St. Joseph Catholic Medical Association Guild, which organizes the Mass locally — said they are inviting as many “non-physicians” as possible, including nurses, medical technicians, chaplains, hospital and outpatient facility employees, hospice workers and home health care workers, he said.
“It’s a Mass of thanksgiving and petition to continue the good work we do and to build on it,” said Williams in an interview Oct. 12. “It’s a reaching out in prayer for anybody involved in the medical profession as well as patients.”
Catholic health care professionals labor under the patronage of St. Luke, said Williams. Traditionally, the Mass is celebrated on or near St. Luke’s feast day — Oct. 18.
The White Mass dates to 1932, when the National Federation of Catholic Physicians began. The Mass became the centerpiece of the guild’s yearly activities, said Williams.
The St. Joseph Guild of the Catholic Medical Association was founded in 2013 by a group of physicians in the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Health care providers are encouraged to wear their white coats to the Mass.
