Other official include Chief Justice Ronald Moon, Supreme Court Justice James Duffy, Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares, 18 members of the state Legislature, three Honolulu City Council members, and members of the Honolulu Police and Fire Departments.

Seven leaders from other religious denominations will also participate.

The Red Mass, celebrated annually during the week the state Legislature opens, is the Catholic Church's public prayer to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance for the state's civic leaders. Bishop Larry Silva will preside at the liturgy.

Rwanda genocide survivor Immaculée Ilibagiza will be the guest speaker at the event.

Ilibagiza was an engineering student at the National University of Rwanda when her life was dramatically transformed at age 22 by the 1994 Rwanda genocide that killed 800,000 people. She and seven women hid for 91 days in a cramped bathroom of a local pastor's house, miraculously eluding the machete-wielding gangs that ultimately killed most of her family.

Ilibagiza, 37, has spoken to audiences around the world and has told her story on CBS' "60 Minutes." The recipient of numerous humanitarian awards, she lives in New York City with her husband and their two children.

The Red Mass is a 700-year-old tradition in Europe that was introduced in the United States in the early 1900s and has become an annual event in Washington, D.C., and other major Mainland cities. Hawai'i has had a Red Mass since 1955.