Thursday, LifeSiteNews announced that the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights (Catholic League) will not be participating in New York’s 2015 St. Patrick’s Day parade after allegedly feeling “betrayed” by the parade committee for allowing an openly homosexual group to march while excluding a pro-life Catholic group.
In a statement released Thursday morning, Catholic League’s president Bill Donahue made it perfectly clear he did not pull out on the strict basis homosexuals were allowed to march, but because the parade committee would not grant the same access to a Catholic pro-life group. He stated:
Prior to the announcement that a gay group would march under its own banner in the 2015 parade, I was consulted by parade organizers about their plans. I told them that I could only support this decision if there were a formal revision in the parade’s rules governing marching units, and that is exactly what I said in my first public statement. To be specific, I asked them to pledge that a pro-life Catholic group would also be permitted. I was told that a formal change in the rules had been approved and that a pro-life group would march. Now I am being told that the list of marching units is set and that no pro-life group will march in next year’s parade. Accordingly, I have decided to withdraw our participation.
Donahue went on to exclaim his wishes the parade had stuck to its core rather than dive into political statements. “Gays have no more been banned from marching than pro-life Catholics have: members of both groups can march with other units; they simply can’t march under their own banner,” said Donahue. “Why? Because the parade is not about gays or abortion, or anything other than St. Patrick.”
With regard to his feelings toward Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s decision to remain Grand Marshal, Donahue firmly proclaimed he is not “at odds” with the Cardinal in the slightest and any attempts made to paint it as such are both “false” and “despicable”.
“My reasons for withdrawing from the parade have nothing to do with Cardinal Dolan or with gays,” said Donahue. “It has to do with being betrayed by the parade committee. They not only told me one thing, and did another, they decided to include a gay group that is neither Catholic nor Irish while stiffing pro-life Catholics. This is as stunning as it is indefensible.”
This will be the first time in 20 years that the Catholic League has not participated in the parade.
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