Kevin Passarello, Esq. will be the keynote speaker at the forty-second annual Red Mass sponsored by the Diocese of Greensburg and Saint Vincent Archabbey, College and Seminary. On Friday, Sept. 18, at noon, Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of Greensburg and Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, O.S.B, of Saint Vincent will celebrate the Red Mass at the Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica in Latrobe.
Passarello, a Saint Vincent College graduate, received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. As an executive and lawyer, he has an extensive background in business development and operations.
He is a co-founder of Bedford Falls Capital, a private equity management and advisory firm in Middleburg, Va. From 1999 to 2005, Passarello served as vice president, general counsel and chief operating officer at TRADOS Incorporated, a software company with nine worldwide offices on three continents.
Passarello speaks frequently at industry forums and panels on technology and entrepreneurship. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at Saint Vincent College and chairs its Academic Affairs Committee, and chairs the Advisory Board for the School of Humanities and Fine Arts. He serves as a director on various corporate boards and charitable enterprises such as The Windy Hill Foundation, which provides affordable housing for 130 low-income persons in Loudoun County, Va.
Passarello resides in Middleburg with his wife, Carla, and three children. As a co-chair on the finance committee at St. Stephen, the Martyr Catholic Church, Passarello and his family are active members of the church. He has served for three years on the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal for the Arlington Diocese. He is a part of the steering committee of the International Leadership Semester, a study abroad program in Rome.
The Red Mass dates back to the thirteenth century when it marked the official opening of the new term for courts in most European countries. The clergy, government, officials, lawyers, and judges participated in the celebration of the Red Mass, signifying their plea for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in pursuing justice in their daily lives.
The Church of Saint Andrew in New York City introduced this tradition to the United States in 1928. His Eminence Patrick Cardinal Hayes presided over the Red Mass and encouraged the members of the entire legal community to give witness to the Word of God through their commitment to justice.
The Diocese of Greensburg and Saint Vincent Archabbey, College and Seminary have jointly sponsored the Red Mass in this diocese since 1968. The Red Mass is celebrated throughout the United States to invoke God’s blessing upon the members of the bench, bar, legislature, law enforcement and governmental agencies — the protectors and administrators of the Law.
