BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's an annual tradition that Bishop Richard Malone will not participate in this year.
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo announced on Friday that the bishop will not participate in this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade on Delaware Avenue. In a statement, the diocese said the decision made "to prevent the Saint Patrick's Day Parade from being used as a platform to address unrelated issues."
However, the bishop will continue the tradition of leading the St. Patrick's Day mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral on Sunday, March 17.
This news comes after a Change.org petition called for Bishop Malone to not walk in the parade.
The Diocese released the following statement on Friday:
Bishop Malone will continue the true celebration of the feast day of Saint Patrick with Mass at Saint Joseph's Cathedral on Sunday March 17th at 10:30 AM. This will precede the lining up of the Saint Patrick's Day Parade on Delaware Avenue.
To prevent the Saint Patrick's Day Parade from being used as a platform to address unrelated issues - however important those issues may be - Bishop Malone, with immense regret, has decided not to march in the Parade this year. The Bishop has chosen Father David Richards, Chaplain of the United Irish American Association, to march in his place as a representative of the diocese. The Parade is an event that honors Saint Patrick and the Irish Catholic heritage and celebrates the many contributions of the Irish people and their descendants to Western New York. It is not the proper forum for controversy.
