The much-anticipated Pride Night presentation of the controversial group, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, at the Los Angeles Dodgers game on Friday night drew a limited audience.
Footage of the pre-match ceremony revealed that only a handful of spectators were present when the provocative group, often seen as anti-Catholic, was presented with a Community Hero Award.
The event occurred about an hour before the start of the game, but the largely vacant seats could have been influenced by numerous Catholics demonstrating outside the Dodger Stadium’s main entrance on Vin Scully Avenue, based on eyewitness accounts.
The group, according to the stadium’s public address announcer, provides food services in the Los Angeles region and offers “exemplary services to the LBGTQ+ community.”
The audience had mixed reactions, with some cheering and others booing, as the PA announcer introduced Sister Unity and Sister Dominia — two men dramatically attired as nuns.
Official Catholic doctrine stands against same-sex marriage and same-sex activities, but a section of Catholics advocates for greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals within the church.
Sister Jeannine Gramick, a long-time minister to LGBTQ+ Catholics and co-founder of New Ways Ministry, stated, “Though I’m uneasy with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence leveraging old nun attire to spotlight prejudice, I believe that any organization serving the community, particularly the less fortunate or marginalized, deserves recognition.”
However, Sister Luisa Derouen, known for her work with transgender Catholics, expressed her deep dissatisfaction with the Dodgers’ decision to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
She recognized their philanthropic efforts but also expressed her dismay at the portrayal of religious life, stating that “women religious are their best allies in the Catholic Church,” and shouldn’t have their lives ridiculed in such a manner.
Robert Barron, a Catholic bishop in southern Minnesota, formerly an auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles, referred to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as an “anti-Catholic hate group” on Twitter and suggested a boycott of the Dodgers.
The criticism wasn’t confined to the Catholic community. Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, accused the Dodgers of total surrender on his syndicated radio show.
LA Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and Washington Nationals’ Trevor Williams criticized the Dodgers for re-inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, expressing their resentment towards the group’s mockery of Catholicism. However, both pitchers affirmed that they had no issues with the broader tradition of Pride Nights.
