‘Blasphemy’: US Bishops Slam LA Dodgers For Honoring LGBT Anti-Catholic Group
Kate Anderson on June 12, 2023
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement Monday asking the church to pray over the “spiritual damage” caused by the Los Angeles Dodgers after the team’s decision to honor an anti-Catholic group on Pride Night.
The Dodgers have been the center of controversy after they announced that they would be honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), a group of queer “nuns” that mock the Catholic church and the crucifixion of Jesus, for their contributions to the LGBTQ community. The USCCB put out a statement Monday, just days before the event, asking fellow believers to instead honor the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and pray for “an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord.”
“This year, on June 16—the day of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated,” the statement read. “This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy.”
The Dodgers initially rescinded the invitation to SPI after facing backlash from multiple Catholic organizations. However, pressure grew when members of the LGBTQ community claimed that removing the invitation was discriminatory, prompting the team to announce that they intended to move forward with the event.
Multiple baseball players, including two of the Dodgers’ own pitchers, condemned the team for its plans to honor the group.
The statement was signed by the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of USCCB, as well as Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles. On June 16, the same night of the Dodgers Pride Night, Catholic leaders urged believers to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart to “take away the sins of the world.”
USCCB said in the statement that the church should also be encouraged that “so many faithful Catholics and others of good will” are standing up to Dodgers’ decision to honor the group.
“We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart on June 16, offering this prayer as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today,” the statement concluded.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and SPI did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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