The Catholic League of Massachusetts has proposed removing the name “St. Patrick” from South Boston’s annual Saint Patrick’s Day parade, saying the agenda of the event’s homosexual leadership is an affront to Christianity.
The parade’s director of operations this year is Bryan Bishop, head of the homosexual activist group OUTVETS, an association temporarily banned from marching in the parade in 2017 because of its rainbow flag. The decision was swiftly reversed, reportedly after pressure from politicians and sponsors.
C.J. Doyle of the Catholic League said that Boston’s mayor suffered a “campaign of intimidation” from LGBT groups, and eventually gave in, leading to a complete de-Christianization of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
When Boston Mayor Marty Walsh became mayor in 2014, Doyle said, “you see this campaign of intimidation against parade organizers, threats of boycotts of the parade by both sponsors and politicians, threats to withhold city parade permits, [and] claims the Boston police cannot protect them from violent disruption.”
Mr. Doyle said that the best thing Christians can now do is remove the name of St. Patrick from the parade that no longer bears any resemblance to his ideals.
“The people who now run the parade and the people who are showcased in the parade – these homosexual groups – not only repudiate the moral code of St. Patrick, but they castigate that moral code as bigotry and prejudice and hatred and homophobia,” Doyle said.
“So how do you honor St. Patrick by repudiating his beliefs and those people who hold his beliefs as bigots?” he added.
Little by little, Catholic groups have been withdrawing from the event, and only one Catholic high school is left among participants.
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charitable group, applied for a permit this year, but withdrew its request under public pressure.
The city held its annual Gay Pride parade on June 9 with the theme “Rainbow Resistance” to highlight both “the celebratory and activist origins of the event.”
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome