Bill Donohue

Congratulations to former Vice President Mike Pence for denouncing the Dodgers for deciding to present an award to an anti-Catholic hate group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, on Pride Night, June 16. Pence, who was raised Catholic, said the group “blatantly mocks Catholicism,” calling the event to honor them “deeply offensive.”

Once we learned of the Dodgers’ decision in mid-May, the Catholic League was the first organization in the nation to mount a public pressure campaign against Major League Baseball (MLB); it had given the event its blessings. On May 16, we released our statement, asking our email subscribers to email Rob Manfred, the MLB Commissioner.

Manfred got so bombarded with complaints that the very next day the Dodgers disinvited the “Sisters.” It was this campaign—not some tweet or soundbite—that forced the reversal.

Over the weekend, LGBT activists and others lobbied the Dodgers to reverse course, and on May 22, they did. The next day, we released a detailed report that I wrote on the history of anti-Catholic acts committed by the “Sisters.”

We have sent our report to hundreds of Catholic parishes, schools and other organizations in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (with more on the way) asking Catholics to boycott the June 16 game.

We are not asking Catholics to boycott the Dodgers in perpetuity as that is a losing strategy: It is fatuous to think that a never-ending boycott of all Dodgers games can work. We want to pinpoint one game, so that this can be a cultural marker for MLB and the Dodgers.

Now that Pence has broken the ice, we hope all aspiring presidential candidates will join with him in condemning this outrageous decision to stick it to Catholics.

Contact Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley: domalley@narrativedc.com

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