https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/author/763/peter-pinedo
The Los Angeles Dodgers are giving an award to a group of gay and
transgender drag performers who mock the Catholic faith.
By Peter Pinedo
Washington
D.C., Jun 9, 2023 / 13:38 pm
Prominent
Catholics and other Christians, including baseball players and bishops,
continue to denounce the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to honor an
anti-Catholic drag group called the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” at a game
on June 16.
The Sisters
of Perpetual Indulgence are a national drag queen group that impersonates nuns
and uses Catholic religious imagery and themes in protests and sexualized
performances to raise awareness and money for LGBTQ+ causes. The performers
call themselves nuns and regularly use the images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary,
and women religious.
The Dodgers
will be honoring the L.A. chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with a
“Community Hero Award” before a game against the San Francisco Giants.
Here is what
some of the country’s leading bishops are saying about the decision.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New
York City
Cardinal
Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, blasted the Dodgers’ decision to honor
the drag group in an episode of his talk show “The Good Newsroom” on June 2.
Dolan
pointed out that beloved former Dodgers who were devoutly religious such as
Sandy Koufax, Tommy Lasorda, and Vin Scully would be outraged today.
“Sandy
Koufax, a great Dodger, there was a guy that loved religion so much he wouldn’t
pitch on Yom Kippur,” Dolan said. “Now the Dodgers … are honoring this
viciously anti-Catholic group.”
“We here in
New York are well aware of them,” Dolan said of the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence. “These are the ones that spit on Cardinal John O’Connor, these are
the ones that threatened to desecrate the holy Eucharist, these are the ones
who exposed themselves in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We’re well aware of
their antics. This isn’t some benevolent, humorous group.”
“You
shouldn’t do this to any group,” Dolan added. “Why is the only group that they
feel free to attack Catholics?”
Archbishop Jose Gomez, Los
Angeles
Archbishop
Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, the archbishop of the city in which the
anti-Catholic group is being honored, called on Catholics and people of
goodwill to “stand against hate in any form” in a May 23 tweet.
“The
decision to honor a group that clearly mocks the Catholic faith and makes light
of the sincere and holy vocations of our women religious who are an integral
part of our Church is what has caused disappointment, concern, anger, and
dismay from our Catholic community,” the archdiocesan statement said.
Archbishop Salvatore
Cordileone, San Francisco
Archbishop
Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, the city whose team the Dodgers will
compete against on June 16, stated that “we now know what gods the Dodger admin
worships.”
“Our
Catholic sisters devote themselves to serving others selflessly. Decent people
would not mock & blaspheme them,” Cordileone said in a tweet on May 23. “So
we now know what gods the Dodger admin worships. Open desecration &
anti-Catholicism is not disqualifying. Disappointing but not surprising. Gird
your loins.”
Archbishop Joseph Naumann,
Kansas City
Archbishop
Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, called on the Kansas City Royals’
ownership to “communicate their disapproval to the Dodgers’ management for
their actions that show disrespect for the Catholic faith,” in a May 31 statement.
Naumann
also called on Major League Baseball to “not allow baseball to be used to
advance ideologies that are offensive to many of their customers” so that fans
could enjoy games “without having to be subjected to blasphemy and the mockery
of the deeply held religious beliefs of many of its players and fans.”
“I am
appalled and disgusted by the Dodgers honoring a group that calls themselves
the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” Naumann added. “This group openly mocks
Catholic beliefs, and their actions are nothing less than blasphemous.”
Naumann
pointed out that former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda was a supporter of women
religious.
“When Tommy
was managing the Dodgers,” Naumann said, “he would always give some of his
complimentary tickets to Catholic religious sisters. The real heroines for the
care of HIV-positive patients are groups like Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of
Charity, who operated AIDS hospice care facilities.”
“Tommy
Lasorda would be appalled by the Dodgers’ actions,” Naumann said.
Archbishop Paul Coakley,
Oklahoma City
“There are
more than 4 million Catholics in Los Angeles,” Archbishop Paul Coakley of
Oklahoma City said in a June 2 tweet. “The decision by the Dodgers to invite a
group that seeks to openly disparage them and the millions of Catholics around
the world is abhorrent and should be rescinded.”
“This group
specifically mocks the witness of religious sisters around the world who
dedicate their lives to serving the poor and those in need,” Coakley added.
“Would they allow mockery of other faiths — our Jewish or Muslim brothers and
sisters? Of course not.”
Coakley
also shared that during this month of the Sacred Heart, he would be praying for
“the conversion of hearts” and called on Catholics and people of goodwill to
join him in condemning “the vile mockery of any faith.”
Bishop Kevin Vann, Orange,
California
Bishop
Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Orange, California, released a statement on May 22
condemning the Anaheim mayor’s decision to honor the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence at a June 7 Anaheim Angels game.
“The
decision to openly embrace a group whose demeaning behavior is anti-Catholic
and anti-Christian is misguided and disrespectful to the sisters of the
Catholic Church who minister in Orange County and selflessly dedicate their
lives to God’s underserved people,” the diocesan statement said.
In a later
tweet on June 7 the diocese said the mayor’s decision was “deeply offensive and
divisive” and that “embracing this group provokes division in our community
instead of fostering a unifying spirit.”
Bishop Robert Barron,
Winona-Rochester, Minnesota
Bishop
Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester called for a boycott against the Dodgers in a
video he tweeted on May 25.
“Anti-Catholicism
is the last acceptable prejudice in America, and we shouldn’t tolerate it,”
Barron said in a tweet. “I’m a big baseball fan. I’ve even thrown out the first
pitch at a Dodgers game. But I’d encourage my friends in L.A. to boycott the
Dodgers. Let’s not just pray but make our voices heard in defense of our
Catholic faith.”
Bishop Michael Burbidge,
Arlington, Virginia
“This is
totally unacceptable and it’s so sad,” Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese
of Arlington, Virginia, said in a June 5 episode of his “Walk Humbly Podcast.”
“This is
not going to change until we stop supporting organizations like that. So, if I
was a Dodgers season ticket holder I’d cancel my season tickets,” Burbidge
added. “We have to be a strong voice and we cannot back down to this kind of
discrimination.”
“They mock
the Catholic faith, and why is it, it seems, that the only ones that can be
subjected to this kind of public mockery and agitation and discrimination are
Christians? It’s not tolerated with any other group,” Burbidge pointed out.
“It’s deeply, deeply concerning.”
“I’m a
baseball fan and I just hate seeing this kind of division coming into sports
because sports is supposed to be a time when you can bring your family, you can
relax, you can enjoy the game, you’re not dealing with all this political
agenda,” Burbidge said.
Bishop James Conley,
Lincoln, Nebraska
In a June 1
tweet, Nebraska’s Bishop James Conley said that the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence group “is slanderous toward our religious sisters and all women.”
The
Dodgers’ decision to honor a group “that mocks Catholicism and all of
Christianity,” Conley said, “is unwise and disappointing.”
“The
Dodgers and MLB need to correct this decision,” Conley concluded.
Bishop Donald Hying,
Madison, Wisconsin
In a May 26
tweet, Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, said: “Let’s
call this out for what it is: anti-Catholic bigotry and blasphemy against God.”
Bishop Joseph Strickland,
Tyler, Texas
Bishop
Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, urged his followers to
“please speak against this evil being promoted at Dodger Stadium,” in a May 24
tweet.
Strickland
will be leading a “prayerful procession” at Dodger Stadium the day of the game,
June 16, according a June 5 report by LifeSite News. The event is being
organized by a group called “Catholics for Catholics.”
In another
tweet on May 30, Strickland said: “Target, Kohl’s, Dodgers, the list grows. As
for me and my house we will serve & honor Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God and oppose any group that denigrates His Sacred Name and Truth.”
