Catholic Group Calls For Organizers to Change Name of Boston St. Pat's Parade

A shamrock by any other name would smell as sweet.

While many lauded the move by organizers to allow gay groups to march for the first time in Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday, some hard line Catholic organizations withdrew their participation. One group is even calling for the annual march down Broadway in South Boston to change its name, the Boston Herald reports.

"St. Patrick was not a figure of mythology. He was a Catholic bishop and is a Catholic saint, and he was not a proponent of gay rights," said C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League on the eve of Sunday's march in response to the inclusion of OutVets and Boston Pride. "Call it the Evacuation Day Parade. Call it the South Boston Irish Pride Festival. Call it whatever you want - but don't debase the name of St. Patrick by associating it with the tawdry circus that will take place on Broadway tomorrow."

Doyle's sentiments were shared by Harvard's Immaculate Heart of Mary School and the state council of the Knights of Columbus. Both organizations withdrew their participation from the Parade because the gay groups were included. The Immaculate Heart of Mary School withdrew in February and the State Council of the Knights of Columbus decided not to participate Friday.

"We don't believe that any Catholic organization should be part of a parade that is promoting a homosexual lifestyle and same-sex marriage and that is their agenda," Immaculate Heart of Mary School principal Brother Thomas Dalton told the Herald. "They want to get people used to that and acceptant of that ... and they're trying to get the cloak of the Catholic Church to cover them and the Church just isn't going to do that."

According to WFMJ, what the parade lost in these two groups, it more than made up for in politicians who have long shunned the traditionally non-inclusive event.

"I'm thrilled that the St. Patrick's Day parade is inclusive this year, and the addition of Boston Pride to the list of participants reflects the values of the South Boston neighborhood," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement released by Boston Pride on Friday. "With this year's parade, Boston is putting years of controversy behind us."

By Marching in the parade on Sunday, Walsh ended a 20 year boycott of the event by the city's chief executive.

Joining Walsh on the parade route were Republican Governor Charlie Baker and first-term U.S. Rep Seth Moulton, an Iraq war veteran who marched with OutVets.

"I believe gay rights is the civil rights fight of our generation and this is a small, but important, step in the steady march toward freedom and justice." Mouton said.