The right to march

To the editor:

As a Catholic with a splash of Irish blood, I find it quite difficult to swallow the politically correct blarney that Julie O'Connor writes about the New York St. Patrick's Day parade ("Fighting for the right to be Irish" YH, 3/26/99). Her insinuation that the "Irish culture and nationalism" which she sees celebrated in the parade can somehow be divorced from Catholicism is patently ridiculous, and her statement that "St. Patrick's Day is no more a Catholic pride day than it is a Guinness appreciation day" is as insulting as it is untrue.

St. Patrick was a Catholic priest and bishop sent by Pope St. Celestine I in 432 to evangelize Ireland. After his death, the Church recognized him as a saint. To demonstrate the falsity of Ms. O'Connor's denials of the Catholic nature of the annual commemoration of his death on March 17, one need only look to the case of modern Belfast. Last year was the first St. Patrick's Day parade ever in the capital of Protestant Northern Ireland, and the Protestants boycotted. Reflecting on this year's Belfast parade, Mr. Nigel Dodds of the Democratic Unionist Party said that the event would do nothing for reconciliation between the two communities (Irish Times, 3/18/99). Regarding the New York City parade, it is important to note that the sponsor is the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an organization of Irish Catholics. Multiple banners reading "England get out of Ireland" and the predominance of the color green to the near exclusion of orange are further evidence that the parade is an expression of Irish Catholic culture. Ms. O'Connor does make a fair point that not all of the music and dancing is religious, but that only shows that there is more to the culture than just religion. It does not, however, diminish the importance of the Catholic faith to that culture.

The Church teaches that homosexuals are to be treated with the same dignity and love due all people, and explicitly forbids unjust discrimination against them. But, it declares homosexual acts, like all sexual acts outside of marriage, to be gravely sinful. Therefore, gay Irishmen marching under a group banner in the St. Patrick's Day parade would constitute an affront to deeply held religious sensibilities on a day of celebration and pride. The Lavender and Green Alliance no more deserves a banner in the parade than the Scarlet and Green Alliance, a hypothetical organization of Irish adulterers. While it is terrific that secular America has latched onto the holiday as a day to have fun and "wear the green," that does not impart any obligation to the Irish Catholic community to compromise its beliefs.

—Matthew G. Alexander, SM '01

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