The controversy over a decision by the organizers of the New York City St. Patrick's Day parade just stepped up a notch with the news that even though parade officials are now allowing homosexuals to march under their own banner, pro-life groups are not permitted to do the same! What kind of St. Patrick's Day parade is this?

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has, for the first time in 20 years, officially pulled out of the March 2015 event because the parade committee denied a pro-life group from marching with a banner even though it bent its own rules to allow a gay group to do so.

"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," explains Catholic League president Bill Donohue.

"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."

For the past two decades, the Catholic League has been one of the most vocal defender of the parade and its strict rules designed to keep the parade about St. Patrick rather than gays, abortion rights, etc.

But that all changed when parade organizers reneged on their promise.

Donohue is also refusing to be drawn into a battle between himself and Cardinal Dolan, who will serve as Grand Marshal of the 2015 parade and who approved the new rules.

"My reasons for withdrawing from the parade have nothing to do with Cardinal Dolan or with gays. 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."

Thus far, organizers of the parade, which has been in existence since 1762, have not issued a public response to the Catholic League's decision to pull out of the parade.

The decision to allow gays to march under their own banner came after last year's controversy that saw large sponsors such as Guinness and Heineken pull out in protest.

Inclusion in the St. Patrick's Day parade is turning out to be another big win for homosexual rights and one that will be flaunted by every media outlet in the U.S. during next year's parade, which will cause the true meaning of the event to be even further obscured.

As Catholic Culture's Phil Lawler so aptly explained, "The gay-rights movement has never been aimed merely at preventing discrimination. Homosexual activists demand not only that we refrain from judging them, but also that we accept their outlook. We are being warned that if we don’t want to be labeled as bigots, we must accept as good something that we have previously condemned as wrong; we must accept as truths what we know to be lies. That 'money' photo from the St. Patrick’s Day parade next year will be taken as a sign of just such acceptance."

Do we really want to go here?

Many Catholics don't think so, including Monsignor Charles Pope whose blog calling for an end to the travesty that this parade has become was scrubbed from the website of the Archdiocese of Washington DC.

"If this really is a Catholic event, it cannot include a group defined by its opposition to Church teaching," Lawler writes. "If it is a Catholic event, forget Guinness, forget NBC, forget the hoopla, and quietly honor St. Patrick."

However, if it's no longer a Catholic event, "If it is just another civic celebration, to which all are welcome, regardless of their attitude toward the Church—then it’s time to end an anachronism," Lawler says. "There should be no reviewing stand outside St. Patrick’s cathedral, no sign of Church sponsorship. Cardinal Dolan should step aside as grand marshal."

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