Irish First

22 February 2008



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Catholic Church Bans St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations

Easter falls early this year, and as a result, March 17 is the Monday after Palm Sunday. Normally, this would be a three-day week-end for those of Irish stock, but the Roman Catholic Church has put up a roadblock. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops says that no mass in honor of Ol’ Pat can be celebrated that day because of Holy Week. Parade organizers and others are wondering what to do.

CNN reports, “Bishop J. Kevin Boland of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia, wrote to practically every agency in his city, from the Chamber of Commerce to the Board of Education, saying the diocese was changing the date of its celebration this year. In response, the citywide Irish festival was moved to Friday, March 14, when schools will close and bagpipe-driven parties will carry into the streets.” Bret Bell, Savannah's public information director told the network, “The city has a very strong Irish Catholic community, a very traditional Irish Catholic community. They attend Mass regularly. And the last thing they want to do is get in the bad graces of the Catholic Church.”

In New York City where St. Patrick is the patron saint, Cardinal Egan will hold the liturgical celebration Friday on March 14. The parade down Fifth Avenue will occur on the same day. However, one is at pains to note that the church in New York doesn’t officially run the show – that falls to the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

In Ireland, the bishops have moved the celebration of the mass to March 15. However, the country will still get March 17 as a day off. The Dublin parade will go ahead on Monday. So it looks like the residents of the Old Sod will get four days of celebrating.

In Columbus, Ohio, the locals have told the bishops to take a hike. The Shamrock Club there arranges the parade, and they are marching on the 17th. Bishop Frederick Campbell sent them a letter last fall saying that he wanted “all observances honoring St. Patrick,” religious or secular, removed from Holy Week. Mark Dempsey, the club’s president, responded, “It’s not a sin to celebrate your Irish culture. Actually, you’re born Irish first, and then, you’re baptized Catholic.” The argument goes to Mr. Dempsey on points.

Mercifully, the weird system of deciding when Easter is (the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox) won’t raise this problem again until 2160.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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