Catholic lay group Catholics for Catholics is organizing a “prayerful procession,” scheduled for Friday, June 16, outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, to coincide with the team’s scheduled Pride Night celebration.
As part of the LGBT event, the Dodgers plan to present a Community Hero Award to the Christian-mocking drag-nun group known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI). The intent of the prayers is to make “reparations for offenses committed against Jesus Christ and all Christians,” according to Catholics for Catholics’ website.
The Dodgers had initially rescinded the invitation to award the self-described “order of queer and trans nuns” after Catholic groups objected. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), wrote a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred asking why the Dodgers planned to honor a group whose Easter ceremony featured “children’s programming followed by a drag show where adult performers dress in blasphemous imitation of Jesus and Mary.”
ATTENTION LA #CATHOLICS: Meeting location has changed for the #Dodgers prayer procession on Friday 6/16. Instead of walking from the Cathedral to the stadium, meet at the stadium starting at 3 PM.
Details here: pic.twitter.com/EjNEBZqt9K
— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) June 11, 2023
Then came the backlash to the backlash, including an announcement from LA Pride, the city’s largest LGBTQ+ organization, that it would boycott the Dodger’s Pride event if SPI was excluded. The Dodgers quickly reversed course, re-invited SPI to the planned celebration and issued a public apology for its initial decision. (RELATED: ‘A Slap In The Face’: LA Dodgers Reinvite ‘Anti-Catholic Hate Group’ That Dresses Up As Jesus In Drag)
A statement from the founding San Francisco chapter of SPI denied the group is anti-Catholic, claiming that it mocks Christian beliefs and Catholic traditions in order to “expose the forces of bigotry, complacency, and guilt that chain the human spirit.” The Sisters typically wear versions of the traditional garb of Catholic nuns, mixed with drag fashion, and often adopt names that parody Christian language. A sampling of SPI names from their website includes Sister Anal Receptive, Sister Constance Lee Craving, Sister Porn Again, Sister T’aint a Virgin, and Sister Tilly Comes Again. The motto of SPI is “Go and sin some more,” inverting a gospel account of Jesus telling an adulterous woman to “go, and sin no more.”
The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest in the country, is not officially supporting the planned prayer procession, but has issued a statement on the controversy. “The forthcoming Dodgers event honoring a group that mocks women religious, and worse, desecrates the Cross, profanes the Eucharist, and disrupts Holy Mass has caused disappointment, dismay, and pain in our Catholic community, as well as among our fellow Christians and people of good will. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles stands for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which means we stand against any form of bigotry, hate, or sacrilege,” the archdiocese said. Other Catholic groups and clergy planning to participate in the June 16 prayer procession include Catholic Vote and Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, who will lead the group in prayer. (RELATED: Mike Pence Slams Dodgers For Inviting Anti-Catholic Drag Group To Pride Night Ahead Of Presidential Announcement)
Since 2020, there have been more than 300 attacks on Catholic Churches in the U.S. These cases include arson, vulgar graffiti and the decapitation of religious statues, according to Catholic Vote.
In one of the few cases where an arrest was made and charges brought, the Biden Department of Justice has declined to seek jail time for the defendant, who identifies as a transgender woman, for causing $30,000 in damage and assaulting a church employee at a Catholic church in Bellevue, Washington, Catholic News Agency reported.