NEWS RELEASE - Catholic Action League of Massachusetts

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(617)524-6309
catholicactionleague@gmail.com

CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE URGES VETERANS COUNCIL TO DROP SAINT PATRICK’S NAME FROM SOUTH BOSTON PARADE

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today is urging the Allied War Veterans Council of South Boston — the organizers of Boston’s Saint Patrick’s Day/Evacuation Day Parade — to remove the name of Saint Patrick from the event, as it no longer has any meaningful connection to the Catholic religion of the Apostle of Ireland.

A report in The Boston Globe this morning indicates that, for the second year in a row, in what will presumably become a permanent feature of the parade, two homosexual organizations, OUTVETS and Boston Pride, will be included in the line of march. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1992, characterizes homosexual behavior as "grave depravity."

The Catholic Action League is calling the participation of OUTVETS and Boston Pride "radically incongruent with a parade named in honor of a Catholic saint."

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "Permitting homosexual groups to march deforms the traditional character of the parade, empties it of any remaining religious significance, and reduces it to a secularized cultural celebration. It has also driven Catholic groups away, including Immaculate Heart of Mary School, whose float of Saint Patrick blessing the children was, for two decades, the iconic image of the parade."

"OUTVETS and Boston Pride have zero interest in honoring the Catholic Faith which Saint Patrick brought to Ireland. For them, Catholicism is an adversary to be opposed. They are exploiting the name of a Catholic saint to promote public acceptance of their sexual identity."

"It is impossible to honor Saint Patrick by showcasing those who not only express pride in rejecting the religion and morality of Saint Patrick, but who deride those beliefs as bigotry, hatred, and homophobia."

"The December, 2014 decision, made by Council members Brian Mahoney, Edward Flynn, Kevin Conroy and others, to surrender to the demands of Mayor Marty Walsh for homosexual inclusion, has, apparently, failed to appease the Mayor. This morning’s announcement that the parade route will be shortened from 3.2 to 1.4 miles, indicates that the Mayor intends to determine the future of the parade, which may include transferring it from South Boston to downtown."

"Finally, holding the parade on March 20th, Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week — the most solemn time of the liturgical year — only underscores the disconnection between the South Boston event and the life, faith, and ministry of Saint Patrick. We urge the Veterans Council to stop misusing the name of our patron saint, and just call it the Evacuation Day Parade."

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