In the midst of fighting around Kavanaugh, the annual Red Mass for the Supreme Court is deadlocked on politics

Kavanaugh extolled his Catholic faith throughout his hearings, including Thursday during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in response to an allegation that he sexually assaulted a high school classmate in the early 1980s. But Kavanaugh, who was invited to Mass as a member of the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit, was not seen on the benches.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, another controversial figure at the moment, was also missing from the special Mass that he would normally lead.

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Instead, Bishop Mario Dorsonville, Auxiliary Bishop, celebrated Mass in the adorned St. Matthew Cathedral, and Bishop Peter Vaghi preached a homily dedicated to the Holy Spirit and the Declaration of Independence.

"Could not there be a better time, both in our church and in our nation, to benefit from the healing power of the Holy Spirit?" Said Vaghi. "It is a power that treats the anger and divisions that so much need the healing touch of our God if we want to continue our respective missions with love, sincere love for each other and efficiency."

Each year, the cathedral hosts the Red Mass, named in honor of the red clothes that clergy wear at the beginning of the autumn quarter of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court judges, local judges and members of Congress and Cabinet regularly attend. At this year's Mass, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Judges Clarence Thomas and Stephen G. Breyer were present, along with Anthony M. Kennedy, whose retirement created the vacant position that Trump proposed to name Kavanaugh.

Protesters shout "I believe Christine Ford," who accused Supreme Court candidate Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault in front of St. Matthew's Cathedral after Sunday's Red Mass in Washington. (Katherine Frey / The Washington Post)

Members of the John Carroll Society, the Washington area Catholic professional organization hosting the annual Red Mass (and a mass in pink honoring health care professionals), expressed their appreciation for the service put away from politics. But others claimed to have entered the cathedral with the game of morality that takes place in the Senate and concerns them.

"I was really offended by the fact that the homily was not mentioned," said Melissa Byrne to Christine Blasey Ford's statement.

Ford alleges that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago, while they were high school students in suburban Maryland.

Byrne, who said she was a Catholic, attended Mass dressed in a purple shirt that said, "I believe in the survivors."

"They had an audience of people who had real power and had not used the homily to talk about incarcerated children, to talk about women believers. It was a waste of church power, "Byrne said.

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Another woman coming out of the Mass at the same time as Byrne intervened: "I absolutely do not agree. It's a church. The church is not supposed to be political. The woman, who did not want to give her name to a journalist, then criticized the small group of protesters who stood on the other side of the cathedral, chanting "We believe the survivors."

"Why are not these people going to church?" She asked. The fact that Vaghi did not mention politics in her homily, she said, was "the best part" of the Mass.

Another woman who also refused to give her name said that she did not think about Kavanaugh at all. God is in our spirit at Mass.

Will Brantley, one of the many law students who attended Mass, said he was excited to have an overview of the Supreme Court justices present, but he did not think that the confirmation fight Kavanaugh should have taken place. "The church is not partisan," he said.

Some protesters tried to hand out pink macaroons saying "I believe Christine Blasey" to the participants as they were heading for Mass, but most people refused to take them. "We want the people who are closest to Brett Kavanaugh and really support his appointment to see the authenticity of the opposition," said Brian Fallon, repeatedly trying and failing for the participants to take a button. "We have to be everywhere: at the airport, when senators arrive and leave Washington, in their offices in their states."

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Chieko Noguchi, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Washington, did not explain why Mr. Wuerl had not led the Red Mass, which he celebrated most of the 12 years of his term as Archbishop of Washington. She would not say either if Wuerl, who recently traveled to the Vatican, has returned to Washington.

Wuerl has been facing more and more criticism in the archdiocese since a grand jury report in Pennsylvania in August said he had a mixed track record of revoking abusive priests from the ministry. Shortly after Labor Day, he wrote to the priests of the Archdiocese that he would be going to the Vatican to discuss his potential resignation with Pope Francis, but the Vatican has yet to announce anything. Only Francis can decide if Wuerl has to leave his post.

Vaghi, as chaplain of the John Carroll Society, was the homilyist in the absence of Wuerl. At one point, he used a phrase echoing the motto of Kavanaugh Catholic High School, Georgetown Prep, which the judge cited during the appointment process.

According to Vaghi, the Holy Spirit helps present judges and lawyers to assume their responsibility to be "men and women for others".