LOS ANGELES, CA – It’s extremely disappointing to the see the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring a group that celebrates the mocking of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular — under the guise of LGBTQ activism.
The Dodgers will give a “Community Hero Award” to the so-called Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence prior to the June 16 game, according to a May 30 story at Catholic News Agency. The SPI have a long history of depravity and anti-Catholicism.
As for the bishops: Salvatore Cordileone, Robert Barron, Joseph Strickland and Donald Hying have condemned the Dodgers’ decision. It would be nice to see all the other bishops follow suit, but I’m not holding my breath for that to happen.
In fact, there’s at least one “Catholic” who supports the SPI. Steve Millies, a professor at the (very) left-leaning Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, urged his Twitter followers to donate to the SPI in honor of Barron’s ordination anniversary. Sad to say, I sincerely doubt Millies is the only “Catholic” to support the SPI.
At least three MLB players have spoken out against the Dodgers’ decision, which is a good thing. Hopefully more will do so in the coming days. Yet even if they do, it’s unlikely the Dodgers will (once again) change their mind.
The Dodgers are throwing a bone, so to speak, to Christians by hosting a “Christian Faith and Family Day” on July 30. Big friggin’ deal. As one Twitter commenter observed: It’s like honoring the Ku Klux Klan at one event and then hosting a “Celebrate Black people” event weeks later – all in the name of fairness.
The way I see it, supporters of the SPI fall primarily into three categories: those who are misguided and believe the SPI is a charitable and inclusive group that just likes to use a little irreverent humor; those who hate the Church because of her moral teachings; and liberal “Catholics” who can’t stand anything or anyone remotely conservative or traditional. The first category can perhaps be reasoned with and influenced, to varying degrees. The other two categories, not so much. We can only pray for them.
In more recent years, enemies of the Church have used the clergy abuse scandal to express their disdain of Catholicism. This isn’t a surprise. Granted, I completely understand the righteous anger of Catholics and people of goodwill who see corruption in the Church and are at a loss about how to deal with it. But we often see social media comments from people who look for any reason to bash the sacred, sometimes in a disgusting fashion.
I fear the persecution of faithful Christians will get worse before it gets better.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.
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