The beautiful green shamrock is equated with Irish pride no matter where one goes, and on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, the “wearin’ of the green” has always been so much fun that even those of us who are not Irish love being Irish for the day. But March 17, 2015, will be different—at least in New York City—thanks to the politically correct Catholic cardinal Timothy Dolan.
The Archdiocese of New York has capitulated to the pressure of the homosexual rights community in the person of the cardinal himself. After consistent resistance to this pressure, including the actual closing of the doors of St. Patrick’s Cathedral when the parade passed by, Dolan has opted to surrender the high ground on the matter. Homosexuals will now march under their own banner in a parade named in honor of a Catholic saint.
Pat Archbold’s straightforward words for the cardinal are quite typical of the responses we have seen. Archbold says:
Cardinal Dolan’s statement is disingenuous. The issue at hand has never been who can march in the parade. I am quite certain that gay people have always marched in the parade. What is at issue is people marching under a banner identifying themselves and promoting sin as normative. The acceptance of the parade committee and the cardinal is nothing less than the public acceptance of the normative nature of gay identity. That Cardinal Dolan’s statement clearly attempts to dissemble on this critical point is shameful, if unsurprising.
But not everyone sees it that way. Washington Post religion writer David Gibson tells readers:
“Dolan’s positive response may also point to a shifting dynamic within the Catholic Church on gays and lesbians since the election of Pope Francis last year. Francis has made it clear he wants Church leaders to highlight Catholicism’s outreach to the poor and vulnerable rather than always fighting culture war issues on gay marriage and the like.”
Pope Francis has never once suggested that Catholic teaching on the practice of homosexuality itself has changed, or will change. Yet this fact is ignored by the media. This means that actions like those of Cardinal Dolan add to the confusion of millions of Catholics—and Americans in general—who do not know Catholic doctrine and are unfamiliar with the way to find the correct response to actions like those taken by Dolan.
The situation is sad at best, and another verbal assault on doctrine at its worst. I agree with writers George Marlin and Brad Miner, who have studied the history of the cardinals of New City and responded to Cardinal Dolan’s latest decision, writing:
And Cardinal Dolan truly is naïve if he imagines his participation in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will not be seen by—dare we say?—most Catholics as yet another endorsement of the “gay” agenda.
For this he will receive faint praise from anti-Catholics. In its coverage of the decision of parade organizers to include the not-even-Irish Out@NBCUniversal, the New York Times called the Church hostile and characterized the parade organizers’ decision as a retreat. It said of Dolan that he represents “changing attitudes in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.” Perhaps that’s true. But the Magisterium hasn’t changed. . . .
As Cardinal O’Connor put it in 1993: “Neither respectability nor political correctness is worth one comma in the Apostles’ Creed.” Or one jot or tittle in the Catechism.
Amen to that.
Let us pray that Cardinal Dolan and the officials of the Archdiocese of New York correct this tragic decision before it is too late.
Contact Cardinal Dolan and let him know what you think. Send him an eloquent and kind note to: 1011 First Ave, New York, NY 10022. Call him at 212-371-1000.
We do not want to consider the possibility that St. Patrick is spinning in his grave! Just say no to Cardinal Dolan’s Pink Shamrock decision!