(LifeSiteNews) — Thousands of people gathered in Los Angeles Friday to protest the honoring of blasphemous drag “nuns” by the LA Dodgers baseball team.
On June 16, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, led Catholics, Protestants, and Jews in a prayer rally at Dodger Stadium as the baseball franchise celebrated the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a pro-LGBT anti-Catholic hate group.
.@Bishopoftyler begins the March for Catholics with the Divine Mercy Chaplet. pic.twitter.com/OmvtvDeS5h
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) June 16, 2023
“This is a give or take war,” John Yep of Catholics for Catholics told LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen prior to the rally. “We have to be prepped as Catholics to be ready to push back, take a punch and get right back in there.”
The event, co-sponsored and filmed by LifeSiteNews, began at 3:00 P.T. at Dodger Stadium. It included a prayerful procession, worship music, and speeches by Strickland and Westen.
The rally was offered “in reparation for offenses committed against Jesus Christ and all Christians by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (Drag Queens impersonating nuns and performing blasphemous shows).”
An additional photograph taken by LifeSiteNews later in the day shows rally attendees spilling onto the street, blocking the entrance into Dodger Stadium.
Friday afternoon, the Major League Baseball franchise presented the sacrilegious group, which engages in deliberately offensive mockery of the Catholic faith, including Christ’s Crucifixion, with an award at their “10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night.”
The invitation to the group was initially revoked following backlash on social media from various religions, but the baseball franchise later backtracked and reinstated the invitation.
BREAKING: Thousands of Catholics have shut down the main entrance to Dodger Stadium on Vin Scully avenue in protest of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence being honored tonight.
They are now lining the sidewalks and have taken over the entire block: pic.twitter.com/F5CSDvuap8
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) June 17, 2023
As LifeSiteNews previously reported, the group of “queer and trans nuns” have fundraised for HIV/AIDS research, the Gay Games (an LGBT-promoting athletic competition), and a proposition to legalize medical marijuana.
Thousands have petitioned the Dodgers to revoke the invitation to the blasphemous group.
LifeSite is rallying against bigotry before the @Dodgers honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic hate group. pic.twitter.com/iTz1YJFn3S
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) June 16, 2023
Several other MLB players have condemned the team’s decision, including Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen, who noted that the group’s performances are filled with “hate and mockery of Catholics and the Christian faith.” Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams, a devout Catholic, likewise said he was “deeply troubled” by the Dodgers’ decision.
Some social media users hinted that the team should face backlash similar to Bud Light, which is continuing to endure a massive boycott after its decision to promote transgender-identifying TikTok activist Dylan Mulvaney.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano praised Strickland for leading the prayer rally, telling Catholics it is “blasphemous” to celebrate LGBT “pride” over the Sacred Heart.