{"id":1023,"date":"2009-02-20T07:07:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-20T07:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/02\/scranton-threatens-to-close-cathedral-on-st-patricks-day.html"},"modified":"2009-02-20T07:07:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-20T07:07:00","slug":"scranton-threatens-to-close-cathedral-on-st-patricks-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/02\/scranton-threatens-to-close-cathedral-on-st-patricks-day.html","title":{"rendered":"Scranton threatens to close cathedral on St. Patrick’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

After making headlines<\/a> last fall, Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton is doing it again, and upping the ante in the pro-life battle.<\/p>\n

From the local press<\/a>: <\/p>\n

In a letter to the heads of three local Irish organizations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton has threatened to close St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral in Scranton during St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebrations if the groups feature elected officials who support abortion rights at their annual events.<\/p>\n

The letter, which was signed by Auxiliary Bishop John M. Dougherty, reports that Bishop Joseph F. Martino is \u201cdetermined to prevent scandal,\u201d which would be caused if the organizations \u201cin any way\u201d should \u201chonor pro-abortion officials\u201d by giving them parade or dais positions or opportunities to speak and \u201cthe Catholic Church is seen to be involved in this honoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

In direct terms, the letter reiterates the bishop\u2019s publicly stated position that elected officials who vote to support abortion rights will be denied Holy Communion if they attempt to receive the sacrament in the diocese, including at St. Patrick\u2019s Day Masses.<\/p>\n

The closing of St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral is offered as an additional measure to prevent the honoring of such officials.<\/p>\n

Dougherty wrote that the bishop hopes the groups\u2019 \u201cjudicious choices\u201d about which elected officials to honor will make any actions by the bishop unnecessary, but that the letter was sent \u201cto avoid any surprise should (Martino) be required to take action in this most serious matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The morning Mass at St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral has been a traditional element of the parade day celebration for decades. An additional Mass on the feast day also is offered at the cathedral and is particularly important for the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, one of the groups the auxiliary bishop addressed.<\/p>\n

Leaders of that group, as well as the other two Irish groups, the St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade Association of Lackawanna County and the Society of Irish Women, reacted to the letter with surprise, disappointment and some confusion.<\/p>\n

Evie Rafalko McNulty, a founder of the Society of Irish Women, explained that her group is not even Catholic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not a Christian organization. We\u2019re not \u2018saint\u2019 anything. We\u2019re just a group of Irish women,\u201d she said. Her group pays $500 to help defray the cost of the Mass given at St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral on parade day, because it was asked to help contribute.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t have the Mass, then we save $500,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

John Keeler, president of the Friendly Sons, said the members of his group, a 104-year-old Irish Catholic organization, were chagrined by the letter but believe they already are in compliance with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe suggestion that we would at any time do anything to create a scandal to the Catholic church is somewhat disappointing, considering that most, if not all, of our members are daily communicants in the Catholic faith who live their faith and support their church to the fullest extent possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Society of Irish Women has not yet confirmed a speaker for its annual dinner, but McNulty said the group has not invited anyone who has a legislative voting record on any abortion issue.<\/p>\n

Mike Harrity, the president of the St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade Association, did not return calls for comment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After making headlines last fall, Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton is doing it again, and upping the ante in the pro-life battle. From the local press: In a letter to the heads of three local Irish organizations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton has threatened to close St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral in Scranton during St. Patrick\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bishops","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\nScranton threatens to close cathedral on St. Patrick's Day - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/02\/scranton-threatens-to-close-cathedral-on-st-patricks-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scranton threatens to close cathedral on St. Patrick's Day - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After making headlines last fall, Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton is doing it again, and upping the ante in the pro-life battle. From the local press: In a letter to the heads of three local Irish organizations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton has threatened to close St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral in Scranton during St. Patrick\u2019s…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/02\/scranton-threatens-to-close-cathedral-on-st-patricks-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-20T07:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"deacon greg kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Scranton threatens to close cathedral on St. Patrick's Day - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/02\/scranton-threatens-to-close-cathedral-on-st-patricks-day.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Scranton threatens to close cathedral on St. Patrick's Day - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"After making headlines last fall, Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton is doing it again, and upping the ante in the pro-life battle. 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