A pro-LGBTQ message on a Methodist church in Nashville, Tennessee. / Glendale United Methodist Church|Flickr
Washington D.C., Jun 6, 2023 / 15:45 pm (CNA).
As the United Methodist Church (UMC) is rocked by disagreement over LGBTQ+ issues, more … […]
With June comes the Rainbow. You can’t miss it. In fact, you may not miss it. Despite how anyone feels about it, despite your religious views, despite your conservative affiliations, despite the tradition of sexual […]
A member of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence marches with LGBTQ+ activists during the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s “Drag March LA: The March on Santa Monica Boulevard,” in West Hollywood, California, on Easter Sunday April 9, 2023. / Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 23, 2023 / 00:01 am (CNA).
Catholic leaders reacted with disgust Monday night after the Los Angeles Dodgers re-invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to be an honoree at the team’s LGBTQ+ Pride Night game on June 16 despite the drag group’s mockery of the Catholic faith.
“When did mocking Catholic nuns become America’s pastime?“ the Catholic advocacy group CatholicVote tweeted.
“Shamefully, (but not surprisingly) the @dodgers have been bullied into apologizing to & ‘re-inviting’ a group of anti-catholic bigots,” tweeted Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who wrote a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred protesting the Dodgers’ original invitation. “Today our great country is controlled by socio-political ruling elites who don’t just tolerate anti-Christian bigotry, they encourage [it].”
Major League Baseball announced on May 4 that the Dodgers planned to honor the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a gay and transgender advocacy group known for its provocative Catholic-themed satire, but the team reversed course on May 17 after complaints from Catholic leaders and advocacy groups.
“Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees,” the Dodgers said at the time.
The team’s first reversal drew fierce criticism from LGBTQ advocates, civil rights groups, and L.A. political leaders, leading the team to reconsider its decision. In a Facebook post, the Sisters said their “abbess” and a board member of the group met Monday morning with the Dodgers president and part-owner Stan Kasten and LGBTQ+ community representatives and elected officials.
“A full apology and explanation was given to us by the Dodgers staff which we accept,” the group said. “We believe the apology is sincere because the Dodgers have worked for 10 years with our community and … they have asked us to continue an ongoing relationship with them.”
Later in the day, the Dodgers announced that they had re-invited the group to join other honorees at the team’s Pride Night game against the San Francisco Giants.
“The Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the Dodgers said in a statement. “We have asked the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night.”
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2023
Reacting to the news, CatholicVote tweeted: “Simon and Garfunkel said it well. We’ve lost our way: ‘Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio. Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.’”
null / Credit: Zolnierek / Shutterstock
ACI Prensa Staff, May 5, 2023 / 18:20 pm (CNA).
Rodrigo Iván Cortés, president of the National Front for the Family (FNF) in Mexico, said he will appeal to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights if the … […]
null / Unsplash
Washington D.C., Apr 26, 2023 / 16:15 pm (CNA).
Police were called to maintain order at a Catholic school board meeting in Ontario, Canada, during a discussion about whether the board should fly a gay pride flag at its central o… […]
In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul addresses corruption among Corinth’s early community of believers. At the time, some Christians in the Greek city had begun denying Jesus’s resurrection, leading to a focus […]
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The speech marks Biden’s first address to the new Republican-controlled House. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Washington D.C., Feb 8, 2023 / 06:08 am (CNA).
During his 2023 State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Joe Biden called on Congress to codify Roe v. Wade and pass legislation banning discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity. The proposals put him at odds with the U.S. Catholic bishops.
“Here in the people’s House, it’s our duty to protect all the people’s rights and freedoms,” Biden said. “Congress must restore the right that was taken away [when the Supreme Court overturned] Roe v. Wade.”
Codifying Roe v. Wade would establish federal abortion laws that mirror the standards that were set under the now obsolete Roe v. Wade decision. Such a law would prohibit states from banning abortion and would prevent certain state-level abortion restrictions.
Since the Supreme Court overturned the ruling, 13 states have banned most abortions and another five have imposed more restrictions on abortion. In six other states, proposed bans and restrictions have been held up in the court system.
“The vice president and I are doing everything to protect access to reproductive health care and safeguard patient [privacy],” the president said. “But already, more than a dozen states are enforcing extreme abortion bans. Make no mistake about it; if Congress passes a national abortion ban, I will veto it.”
Although Biden is the nation’s second Catholic president, he remains at odds with American Catholic bishops and Catholic Church teaching. In July, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities referred to an attempt to codify Roe v. Wade as “the most unjust and extreme abortion on demand bill our nation has ever seen.”
Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, tweeted his thoughts on the issue before the president’s speech.
“The ‘state of the union’ is fatally flawed if we are committed to supporting, promoting, and paying for abortion,” Tobin said. “A nation that destroys its own children has no future.”
The National Right to Life Committee criticized Biden after the State of the Union address. NRLC accused Biden of being “the most pro-abortion president in history.”
“The Biden administration and the Democratic Party have yet to hear of an abortion they wouldn’t support,” NRLC President Carol Tobias said in a statement. “Tragically, women and their unborn babies will be the ones to suffer.”
In addition to the president’s support for abortion, he reiterated his support for laws that would establish federal civil rights protections for people identifying as LGBTQ. The legislation, known as the Equality Act, would ban discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Let’s also pass the bipartisan Equality Act to ensure LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender young people, can live with safety and dignity,” Biden said. ‘Our strength is not just the example of our power but the power of our example. Let’s remember the world’s watching.”
This legislation has also received pushback from the USCCB.
According to the Catholic bishops, it would threaten religious freedom by forcing religiously operated organizations and faith-based charities to “host functions that violate their beliefs” and “violate their religious beliefs.”
The bishops raised their concerns that the legislation would require faith-based hospitals to provide abortions and gender transition surgery. The USCCB also said the act would force biological females to share locker rooms and compete in sports with biological males who identify as female.
The Catholic Church in Germany is not only facing its last synodal assembly in March 2023, but also its biggest decision on direction in many decades. Reconciling the driving forces there with the clear admonitions […]
The recent ceremony at the White House for signing the so-called Respect for Marriage Act encapsulates the state of public thought today. The Act requires the federal and state governments to treat same-sex “marriages” as […]
null / sergign/Shutterstock.
Denver, Colo., Dec 30, 2022 / 14:55 pm (CNA).
The Michigan Supreme Court’s new interpretation of anti-discrimination law requires schools to impose strict policies and practices enforcing non-Catholic views of sexua… […]
© Catholic World Report