Former Vice President Mike Pence is accusing the Los Angeles Dodgers of “welcoming anti-Catholic bigots” to its stadium with “open arms.”
“Having been raised in a Catholic family, the Dodgers’ decision to invite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a hateful group that blatantly mocks Catholicism, to their event next month is deeply offensive,” Pence said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
Pence no longer practices the Catholic faith, but has since described himself as a “born-again, evangelical Catholic.”
The Catholic president of the United States, Joe Biden, has not weighed in on the Dodgers controversy.
The former vice president, who will announce his 2024 presidential campaign next week in Des Moines, Iowa, pointed out that “last summer, the MLB moved their All-Star Game out of Georgia over a lie about voter ID.” [Editor’s note: It was actually the 2021 All-Star Game that was relocated.]
“Now they are apologizing and welcoming anti-Catholic bigots back to Dodger Stadium with open arms,” he said. “The MLB should not be apologizing to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, they should be apologizing to Catholics across America. America’s pastime should respect the faith of every American no matter what.”
The Dodgers had initially backed out of their invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to attend the team’s “Pride Night” after strong backlash from religious groups, including that of CatholicVote President Brian Burch, who wrote in a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred: “The [Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence] mock Catholics by taking on vulgar names, such as ‘Sister GladAss of the Joyous Reserectum.’”
“In one infamous stunt, they tricked an archbishop into giving them the Eucharist—the most important sacrament of the Catholic faith—so they could defile it,” Burch wrote. “This past Easter Sunday, the [Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence] put on an exhibition in San Francisco in which a performer dressed as Jesus carried a cross up a hill and then performed a pole dance on it.”
But the baseball team apologized last week to the “sisters” and asked them to “take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night.”
The leftist group of performers said in a statement on its website that the Dodgers gave it a “full apology and explanation,” concluding its statement with yet another poke at the Catholic Church: “May the games be blessed!”
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence describe the group as “a leading-edge order of queer and trans nuns,” and though the group claims that it is not anti-Catholic, the tagline on its website states: “Go forth and sin some more,” apparently mocking Jesus Christ’s words to a woman caught in adultery.
Catholic sisters or nuns are women who pledge their lives to God, making vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These women devote their time to prayer and service and are highly revered in many communities.
Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams spoke out against the Dodgers’ invitation to the group on Tuesday. In doing so, he became the first Major League Baseball player to publicly condemn the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Catholics have widely applauded and celebrated his remarks.
“As a devout Catholic, I am deeply troubled by the Dodgers’ decision to re-invite and honor the group ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ at their Pride Night this year,” Williams said.
“A Major League Baseball game is a place where people from all walks of life should feel welcomed, something I greatly respect and support,” he said. “This is the purpose of different themed nights hosted by the organization, including Pride Night.”
“To invite and honor a group that makes a blatant and deeply offensive mockery of my religion, and the religion of over 4 million people in Los Angeles County alone, undermines the values of respect and inclusivity that should be upheld by any organization,” Williams added.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen also reportedly asked Christian singer Sean Feucht to post a statement he wrote expressing disappointment in the Dodgers as well and slamming the performances of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as “blasphemous.”
“I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I believe the word of God is true, and in Galatians 6:7 it says, ‘Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked; a man reaps what he sows.’ This group openly mocks Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of my faith, and I want to make it clear that I do not agree with nor support the decision of the Dodger’s [sic] to ‘honor’ the Sister’s [sic] of Perpetual Indulgence,” Treinen wrote.
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