A crowd protesting the Dodgers’ decision to invite the controversial Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to its “Pride Night” has gathered outside Dodger Stadium today.
The assembly is taking place hours before the 7:10 first pitch of the team’s game against the San Francisco Giants.
The “Catholics for Catholics” organization is the organizer of the protest, which so far appears peaceful and without opposition. Most fans attending tonight’s game will not show up for several hours.
Protesters are currently at Parking Lot 13 outside Dodger Stadium. Whether they will attempt to disrupt arrivals outside the stadium or protest inside has not been revealed.
The protest is the latest marker on what’s become a public relations nightmare for the Dodgers. They disinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to “Pride Night” when Catholics initially protested their involvement, then reinvited them when gay rights organizations threatened to pull out of the event.
On Monday, the team was slammed in a statement from Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services.
“A professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated,” the archbishops said. “This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy.”
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are slated to receive the Community Hero Award during a pregame ceremony.