Catholic objections to an abortion-rights group’s participation in the Morristown St. Patrick’s Day parade have touched off a debate about whether the parade is a religious event and who should be allowed to take part.

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Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of the Paterson Diocese sent a letter Feb. 13 encouraging Morris County priests to “express your concerns” that the local chapter of the National Organization for Women would be marching in a celebration honoring the Catholic missionary and bishop St. Patrick.

Parade organizers have since heard from a dozen priests and others who object to NOW’s participation, including Monsignor John J. Carroll of Our Lady of the Magnificat Church in Kinnelon. Carroll sent an e-mail saying he was withholding the parish’s annual $300 donation to the parade because NOW is marching.

“Since it’s a parade honoring St. Patrick, a saint of the Catholic Church, I don’t think it’s appropriate,” he said Thursday.

Parade organizers countered Thursday that the celebration is non-sectarian and that any group that does not advertise its political message at the March 11 event is free to participate. Besides the objectors, they also have heard from three Roman Catholic women who support NOW’s cause.

“We welcome anyone who wants to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and abide by our rules,” said Robert Nace, vice president of the parade’s board of trustees.

The Morris County chapter of NOW, which lobbies for reproductive choices and equal rights for women, has participated in the parade for 13 years. Members, many of them Irish-Catholics, ride in a clover-decorated flatbed truck or antique car and display their organization’s banner, but avoid overt political statements, chapter President Mavra Stark said.

“We are very grateful for the parade committee for sticking to their guns,” she said. “To have a bunch of priests down your neck is great pressure. We know it took courage and we’re grateful for it.”

Former Paterson Bishop Frank J. Rodimer was the parade’s grand marshal in 2000, but diocesan spokeswoman Marianna Thompson said that the diocese only recently received notice of NOW’s participation.

In his letter, Serratelli said that NOW’s support of abortion, birth control and reproductive rights “stands against the teachings of the Church and the Catholic values that St. Patrick in his life … worked tirelessly to promote.”

Serratelli, who replaced Rodimer in 2004, recently banned a Catholic non-fiction writer and activist who supports abortion rights from speaking on church property in Morristown.

Regarding the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Thompson said the bishop was trying to raise awareness among priests, not ban the group from participating.

“We’re just letting our people know and raising the concern,” she said. “We have not asked the chairman of the parade committee to remove them.”

She added, though, that the parade wasn’t “merely a cultural or family event,” but one with religious significance. NOW’s message runs counter to this significance, she said.

Regardless of the interpretation of St. Patrick’s Day, Nace said, it isn’t the committee’s place to judge participants by their political views.

“Think of the politicians in the parade,” he said. “Some are pro-life and some are pro-choice. We don’t provide a litmus test to see whether you’re one or the other.”