In honoring anti-Catholic activists, LA Dodgers strike

After all, the LA Dodgers will honor the so-called “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” After a back-and-forth that garnered national attention, the baseball franchise finally decided to present the Community Hero Award to the LGBTQ activist group during the stadium’s Pride Night, which will be held on June 16.

For those who don’t know, the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” are a group of gay men who dress in drag like Catholic nuns and describe themselves as “a forward-thinking order of queer and trans nuns.”

When the Dodgers first announced the honor, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a Catholic, was one of the first public figures to object to the Dodgers’ invitation. In a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, Rubio asked, “Do you believe the Los Angeles Dodgers are ‘inclusive and welcoming to everyone’ in awarding a group of performers of gay and transgender dragsters who intentionally mock and degrade Christians – and not just Christians, but nuns, who dedicate their lives to the service of others?

The senator’s question knocks the ball out of the park. The problem with honoring the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” is that the group, at its core, is founded on a travesty of the Catholic faith. The group’s motto—“Go and sin more”—is directly derived from the words of Jesus in the Gospel (cf. Jn 8:11), words that echo what practicing Catholics hear in the confessional.

Other Catholics took to the public square and the Dodgers rescinded the invitation.

But then the pressure mounted on the other side. Publications like Rolling Stone ran articles with headlines like “Conservatives Bully Los Angeles Dodgers into Dumping Pride Night Charity Drag Band”. But for Catholics, it’s a question of the integrity of our faith. How dare the Dodgers consent to this kind of bigotry that belittles the contributions Catholic sisters have made to our society!

While members of the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” may have done laudable charitable work — namely, caring for AIDS patients at the height of the epidemic — this service is inextricably rooted in anti-Catholic character. of the group, which was founded on Easter Sunday 1979.

Bowing to pressure from the LGBTQ lobby, the Dodgers decided to re-invite the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” In reiterating the invitation to the group, the Dodgers apologized to the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” and members of the LGBTQ community. But what about Catholics? And our sisters?

The Dodgers’ move is political — a move that calculates it’s easier to offend Catholics and mock the Catholic Church than to oppose the LGBTQ lobby in California. This group did not have to be honored. But it’s clear that the leaders of the Dodgers organization have decided to make a statement by celebrating these men.

By deciding to re-invite the activist group, the Dodgers might gain a peaceful moment from the LGBTQ lobby, but many others lose. The audience loses, for reducing questions about human sexuality to frivolity and superficial displays of men in drag. Christians lose, because the unseemly travesty of faith affects anyone who actually believes. The Catholics lose, because once again our faith is openly mocked in the public square. But the biggest losers are the nuns, whose noble example of selflessness and service is grotesquely caricatured by this group and its members.

Countless religious women have dedicated their lives to public service in the United States. They built hospitals, schools and orphanages. They have taught and cared for the most vulnerable in our country for centuries. This legacy should be cherished, not thrown under the feet of mocking crowds at a Pride Night publicity stunt. It’s offensive and divisive. And the Dodgers should be ashamed of themselves.

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