There needs to be "more careful discussion and vigilance" among people of the religious and secular worlds so that they might work for the common good, the governor, legislators and other lawmakers were told Thursday at the annual Red Mass.

The message came as protesters gathered to confront attendees at the Catholic service.

In his homily, the Rev. John A. Coleman, a prominent Jesuit scholar affiliated with the University of San Francisco, said that religious freedom is under assault in the United States on a number of fronts.

When prominent civic leaders left the service at Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on Bishop Street, protesters carrying signs chanted, "Shame on you!"

A tradition since 1955, the Red Mass is typically celebrated the day after the state Legislature opens in January. Attending the event, which offered prayers for guidance, were Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, legislators, members of the Honolulu City Council and others.

"We have a problem with politicians coming here," said Mitch Kahle, president of Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church. "And the church tries to influence them on how to vote on sex education, women’s rights, abortion, death with dignity. The church is an anti-civil rights organization."

A vociferous critic of the Catholic Church, he also condemned the church for "sex abuse cover-ups," the subject of most of the signs.

Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva presided over the Mass, named for the color of the priests’ robes.

As an example of how the church is under assault, Coleman said that in Illinois Catholic Charities adoption and foster child agencies have been told they must provide service to same-sex couples. In Tennessee, Vanderbilt University banned Christian groups from meeting on campus because their bylaws exclude atheists as members.

And in 2006, he said, the U.S. House passed a bill that made it a crime to aid or abet illegal immigrants, a common focus of pastoral outreach by churches. (The bill failed in the Senate.)

"I have no magic bullet to solve complicated religious liberty cases," Coleman said. But he said it is clear that some kinds of legislation could force religious Americans "either to compromise their faith or be forced into a privatized religion which betrays the more public dictates of their faith, or else engage in civil disobedience."

In an interview afterward, Abercrombie said Coleman’s homily provided a depth of perspective on the separation of church and state. The governor said the First Amendment makes it clear that the government should not involve itself in the establishment or free exercise of religion.

"Our diversity defines us," he added. "It should not divide us. We should concentrate on things that unite us."

Abercrombie, who described himself as "a fallen-away Episcopalian," said he took opposition from religious groups into consideration before he approved legislation allowing civil unions in Hawaii.

As TV cameras rolled outside the cathedral, Abercrombie quoted from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister executed by the Nazis.

"The space of the church is not there in order to fight with the world for a piece of its territory, but precisely to testify to the world that it is still the world, namely, the world that is loved and reconciled by God. It is not true that the church intends to or must spread its space out over the space of the world."

The service included prayers for the protesters outside.

"Shame on you for supporting the Catholic Church and for attending the Red Mass!" Holly Huber, a member of Citizens for the Separation of State and Church, shouted at government officials gathered outside after the service.

She and others held signs that read, "Stop Clergy Sex Abuse," "Keep Religion Out of Government" and "Prosecute Pedophiles," among other messages.

Kahle said his group was joined by representatives from Planned Parenthood, PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), the Secular Student Alliance and the Hawaii Secular Society.

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