Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota just took to Twitter to call on the Catholic faithful to join in a boycott of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Like many other Christians, he is furious over the team’s decision to, despite outcry from Catholics, honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on June 16.
The Dodgers had initially excluded the group, which exists to mock Christians and Catholic rituals, from the Pride Night festivities because of what the group does. Maily the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence dress as Catholic nuns and commit sexualized mockeries of icons of the faith, including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, something that believing Christians find horrific. Predictably, however, the left lost it because the mockers of the faith weren’t included and the Dodgers backtracked, saying, in a statement posted to social media with a rainbow version of their logo:
After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families.
We have asked the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16th. We are pleased to share that they have agreed to receive the gratitude of our collective communities for the lifesaving work that they have done tirelessly for decades.
In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2023
In a video statement Thursday, Bishop Barron called on Catholics and other Christian denominations to boycott the team, saying that Christians need to stand up for their faith. Watch him here:
Friends, it’s hard to imagine anything more offensive than some of the behavior of the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” which I think can only be described as an anti-Catholic hate group. pic.twitter.com/VLZP28Soab
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) May 25, 2023
As you can hear in the video, Bishop Barron said:
“I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about this controversy involving the LA Dodgers and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. You know, the Dodgers invited this group, which I think can only be described as an anti-Catholic hate group invited them to be honored at the Dodger Stadium.
“Then, when there was a howl of protest from Catholics and others, they disinvited them good move, but then they re-invited them, and their re-invitation was accompanied by a kind of pathetic apology where they were praised for all the great work that they do.
“And look, I’m not going to go into all the details, look them up on YouTube or something, you’d find what they do. I’ll give you one example, I think was on Easter Sunday, there was a display where they have Jesus on the cross of the most sacred moment in history for Catholics. And a drag queen comes in and kind of pulls Jesus off the cross then does a sort of pole dance on the cross.
“For Catholics. It’s hard to imagine anything more offensive than that. Suppose this group had dressed up in a kind of simulacrum of a rabbi and it does something deeply disrespectful to the Torah or take it a step further and dressed up in a, you know, mockery of a Muslim cleric or Imam, and then it desecrated the Koran. What would the reaction be? You know, those questions answer themselves but somehow attacking Catholics in this most disgraceful way, is okay, not only okay, it should be honored.
“You know, everybody I’ve said this before, but there’s a long tradition in our country of anti-Catholicism. It was said famously, oh, about a century ago, the last acceptable prejudice in America is anti-Catholicism, but we shouldn’t tolerate it. One thing I would say since the Dodgers clearly are not responding to a decent appeal to reason.
“I encourage my friends back in LA…look, I was auxilary vicia. For six years in LA, I throw out the first pitch at a Dodgers game a few years ago. But I encourage my friends back there, boycott the Dodgers. May I say to especially my Hispanic friends, many of whom are big baseball fans out there. This is your religion is the religion of your family of your abuela in a way, though, of your familia, you’re the CEO and why are we tolerating this we shouldn’t be tolerated. So let’s pray everybody. Let’s pray for the defense of our faith and let’s stand for the Catholic faith.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
