The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today commended the administrators, teachers, and students of Immaculate Heart of Mary School for withdrawing their float and band from Boston’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. In December, a minority of the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council—the organizers of the parade—invited a homosexual group specifically contrived for this controversy, OUTVETS, to march, and gave them permission to carry signs and banners identifying their sexual behavior.
Attempts to reverse this decision ended with the resignation of faithful Catholics from the Veterans Council. The school’s float of Saint Patrick blessing the children was, for many years, the iconic symbol of the Boston parade.
The Catholic Action League called the school’s decision to withdraw “an act of courage, integrity, and fidelity to the moral teachings of the Catholic religion.”
Update (story continues below):
The episode has been featured on ChurchMilitant.TV News:
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “At a time when so many Catholics conform to the culture, it is profoundly edifying to see the splendid example of Catholic witness offered by Immaculate Heart of Mary School. The Catholic community ought to be grateful that there is at least one Catholic institution left in Massachusetts whose members have the faith, fortitude, and sovereignty of mind to act unreservedly in defense of their Catholic principles. Clearly, at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, they not only profess the Catholic Faith, they live it.”
“This valiant example of unflinching devotion to Catholic Faith and morals deserves to be both emulated by other Catholic organizations and affirmed by the leadership of the Archdiocese of Boston.”
“The Catholic Action League also joins with Brother Thomas Dalton in urging parade organizers to change the name of the parade to the Evacuation Day Parade, commemorating the civil holiday, as the event no longer has any meaningful connection to the religion of Saint Patrick.”
Immaculate Heart of Mary School, administered by the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is located in Still River, in the Town of Harvard, in the Diocese of Worcester.
ADDENDUM (SBC/Still River): On February 26, Immaculate Heart of Mary School in a News Release announced that it was withdrawing its marching band and float of Saint Patrick from the South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. It was quickly picked up and reported by MyFoxBoston.com and LifeSiteNews.com
Later in the day, the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts came out with the [above] news release, published in part by the Boston Globe.
