If a pro-abortion politician is honored in Scranton’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, St. Peter’s Cathedral doors will close to the event, said the city’s bishop Joseph Martino in a letter to parade participants. St. Patrick’s Day occurs on March 17. The bishop’s precautionary message, in a letter penned by Auxiliary Bishop John M. Dougherty, said the Catholic Church would have to distance itself if pro-abortion politicians were given speaking opportunities or other honors in the parade honoring the Catholic saint. “The Bishop is specifically concerned because doing so in conjunction with the feast day of a Catholic saint would be cause for scandal in view of the Church’s clear teaching that abortion is an intrinsic evil,” stated a Scranton diocese release.