Generally supported every year by Norfolk, Virginia's local Catholic churches, this year's St. Patrick's Day parade in Ocean View did not enjoy that support. The chief concern - the parade's grand marshall and his views on family.
Catholics object to St. Patrick's Day Parade grand marshall, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, because the Governor holds views contrary to family values which form the basis of the church's view on marriage and family life. According to the Virginian Pilot's March 12th front page headlines, "McAuliffe is Catholic but supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage, which runs counter to church teachings." These are issues - the sanctity of marriage and the sanctity of life - which Catholics generally hold as non-negotiable to their faith.
Family is affected by any political leader's promotion of marriage expansion, as clearly set out at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=269418. And abortion rights have definitely led to the deconstruction of the family, both for women's rights (see http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2007200O,) and for the family generally (see http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2441274), not to mention its devaluation of the lives of children (see http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2517012).
St. Patrick himself would likely not be happy about the destruction of those values either. St. Patrick's Day represents another opportunity for support of family restoration - but a lost opportunity in Ocean View, VA this year.
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