Louisiana Catholics to Protest ‘Diabolical’ Pride Parade on Saturday
On Saturday, leftists around the world will begin celebrating their holiest season, Pride Month. In the Pelican State, though, a group of Catholic men are preparing a prayer rally to reclaim their town from the LGBT agenda. An organization called Queer Northshore will be hosting Mandeville, Louisiana’s first-ever Pride parade on June 1. In response, the Catholic men’s group La Nouvelle Vendée is organizing a prayer rally along the route the Pride marchers plan to take.
“This seems to be an offensive maneuver on a location known for its family-friendly environment, its plentiful Church parishes, and its selection of schools,” stated Ross McKnight, founder of the Catholic group. “While a display such as this would perhaps not be so surprising in New Orleans, Chicago, Austin, or Los Angeles, the objective here appears to be the infiltration of a community with traditional Catholic values. Diabolical also is the concurrence of this event with the First Saturday devotion and the first day of the Month of the Sacred Heart.” In the Catholic Church, the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a particular devotion centered on the love, mercy, and suffering of Christ.
Queer Northshore will be marching along Lakeshore Drive, which the men of La Nouvelle Vendée will stand along while praying the rosary and singing Latin chants, such as “Ave Christus Rex” (Hail Christ the King) and “Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat” (Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands). Men are asked to wear a collared shirt tucked into their pants and instructed not to bring any firearms. A cameraman will be present to cover the Catholic men’s event, especially any “aggression” directed at them by the LGBT mob. “We will not respond to antagonism, but suffer the lash as did the King of all mankind — with humility and fortitude,” McKnight wrote. “In the eventuality that one of our men is under threat of deadly violence, we will respond appropriately, but otherwise we will stand stone-faced and immovable in the face of insults and indignities.”
“Together, we will stand for the Church, for our families, for our children, and for the beauty and light and wisdom that was — and will be again — the Social Kingship of Christ,” McKnight encouraged attendees. “It is a great deed! — And one that will be accomplished by the best of men. May God’s grace abound on this day and accomplish the salvation of souls.”
La Nouvelle Vendée is named after the Catholic and Royal Army that fought against the French revolutionaries in the 18th century War in the Vendée. The organization’s stated goals are to resist secularism (including sexual degeneracy), reclaim “our Patrimony, i.e., our Religion, History, Language, and Culture,” and “[r]estore Christendom in Louisiana by implementing the Doctrine of the Social Reign of Christ the King.” La Nouvelle Vendée focuses its efforts in three areas: the “hearth,” or home, via religious instruction, education, and prayer; the “thrones,” or the political sphere, via the creation of Catholic networks for socialization, business, and political advancement, as well as hosting “public, masculine demonstrations and processions proclaiming Christ as King in the public square”; and the “altars,” via protecting Catholic churches, schools, seminaries, and other institutions from secular ideals and championing traditional Catholic theology and principles.
According to The Federalist, La Nouvelle Vendée founder and New Orleans chapter commander McKnight, owner of a foie gras farm, drew the ire of local businesses when he made a social post last year featuring the Sacred Heart and condemning Pride Month as an “attempted coup of the month of June.” Numerous restaurants canceled their orders from McKnight’s Backwater Foie Gras, reportedly costing the outspoken Catholic and his family up to $10,000 a month in revenue. “We count it a privilege to have lost much,” McKnight later posted on social media. “‘If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated me before you’” (John 15:18), he added.
According to social media, Queer Northshore has claimed that La Nouvelle Vendée is “planning to disrupt” Saturday’s Pride parade and encouraged others from across Louisiana and across the country to attend the event.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.