CV NEWS FEED // Amid national backlash for honoring the anti-Catholic hate group the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” (SPI), the Los Angeles Dodgers lost badly in the game that followed their controversial move.
The San Francisco Giants “routed the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers 15-0 on Saturday night for their season-high sixth straight victory,” ESPN reported:
It was the Giants’ largest margin of victory over their NL West rival since a 19-3 win on Sept. 14, 2013. It also matches the worst home shutout loss in Dodgers history, which came in 1898 against Pittsburgh when the team was based in Brooklyn.
The Dodgers’ Friday loss came hours after they conferred a “Community Hero Award” to the “Sisters.”
The Dodgers had indicated they would grant the award during the game as part of the pageantry of the team’s “Pride Night.” Catholic leaders condemned the decision in the weeks leading up to the event. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called on America’s Catholics to pray in reparation for blasphemies like those performed by SPI.
On Friday a massive crowd prayed and processed with a relec of Pope St. John Paul II outside Dodger Stadium. In the end, the team granted the award to SPI briefly and without ceremony well before the game began. As CatholicVote reported, “Fans in the nearly-empty stadium loudly booed.”
A massive peaceful protest formed in the Dodger Stadium parking lot a few hours before the game was set to begin. Participants prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Litany of the Sacred Heart. Some protesters waved Vatican flags and held signs bearing the words “Long Live Christ the King.” One had an LA Dodgers hat altered to read “bLAsphemy.” Friday, when the Dodgers held their “Pride Night,” was the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“Everything we do is to represent you and your voice, the faithful Catholics in the pews who care about our country and our culture. You have more power than you think,” Tommy Valentine, Director of the Catholic Accountability Project, told Catholics at the rally.
“What we’re doing out here is just a beautiful, prayerful witness which makes an incredible contrast to the bigotry and sacrilege on display inside,” he said. Valentine thanked Jesse Romero and John Yep for their hard work in organizing the rally.