This is the article that appeared in the July/August 2023 edition of Catalyst, our monthly journal. The date that prints out reflects the day that it was uploaded to our website. For a more accurate date of when the article was first published, check out the news release, here.
MASS MAILING TO L.A. PARISHES ON “SISTERS”
Today we are sending our report on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to over 300 parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In the cover letter, I am asking pastors to let their parishioners know about our response to the Dodgers giving an award to the “Sisters” at Dodger Stadium on “Pride Night”, June 16. We are asking Catholics not to attend the game.
We are grateful for the support of Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez and San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
The release of the report online yesterday was our first salvo against the Dodgers and Major League Baseball (it could have stopped the event). Today’s mass mailing represents our second response.
This will be an ongoing campaign over the next few weeks.
L.A. SCHOOLS CONTACTED ON “SISTERS”
Today we are sending our report on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to 53 schools—elementary, high school, colleges and universities—in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In the cover letter, I am asking educators to let their constituents know about our response to the Dodgers giving an award to the “Sisters” at Dodger Stadium on “Pride Night”, June 16. We are asking Catholics not to attend the game.
This will be an ongoing campaign over the next few weeks.
L.A. RADIO AD BLITZ v. DODGERS BEGINS
Starting today, for five consecutive days, we are running 25 radio ads (30 seconds each) on KABC asking listeners not to attend the June 16 “Pride Night” Dodgers game that features the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” KABC is the ABC affiliate that covers Los Angeles and the Southern California area.
Due to copyright laws, we are prohibited from mentioning the Dodgers, or Dodger Stadium, per se. Everyone in the huge listening area will understand what the selected euphemisms mean (the stadium is also known as Chavez Ravine).
Here is the text of the ad that is being read by a woman chosen by KABC.
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, is asking Catholics not to attend the game at the Ravine on June 16. That is when an anti-Catholic group, the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” will be given an award.
We are not asking Catholics to boycott all games. Just this one. By doing so, we will send an unmistakable message that bigotry against Catholics should not be tolerated.
If attendance dips on June 16, the entire league will take note. Please boycott this game.
AD BLITZ AGAINST DODGERS WORKING
KABC radio in Los Angeles started June 6 airing the first of 25 ads paid for by the Catholic League asking listeners not to attend the June 16 “Pride Night” Dodgers game honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic hate group; it runs through June 9. The initial reaction has been very positive.
The Los Angeles Times just published a story, “Catholic League Launches Radio Ad Campaign Urging Boycott of Dodgers’ Pride Night.” While the story is not critical of the “Sisters,” it accurately conveys our stand.
Now we have been contacted by other media outlets asking permission to disseminate the ad. We are encouraged by this robust response.
It should be noted that while there are several lay Catholic groups that have weighed in against the Dodgers, the Catholic League is the only organization in the nation to launch an ad campaign. Coupled with our mass mailings to prominent Catholics in the Los Angeles area, we are proud to lead the way. Even critics of the overall Catholic response are citing our leading role.
We will have more to say tomorrow about the next stage in our campaign.
MORE L.A. CATHOLICS CONTACTED
Today we are contacting 126 Catholic entities asking them to spread the word about our boycott of the June 16 “Pride Night” Dodgers game that will honor the anti-Catholic Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. To that end, we are sending them a copy of our report that details the bigoted acts of this hate group.
We previously mailed our report to over 300 parishes in the Los Angeles archdiocese. We also contacted 53 Catholic schools, including colleges and universities. In each case, we asked pastors and educators to ask their constituents not to attend the June 16 game.
Now we are asking the Catholic leaders of the following archdiocesan entities to do the same: Residences of priests and brothers; endowments, foundations and trusts; retreat houses; hospitals and health systems; seminaries; and convents and residences for women.
Also ongoing is our radio ad blitz on KABC in Los Angeles asking area Catholics to boycott the June 16 game. Stay tuned for more announcements about our campaign.
L.A. LATINOS: SAY NO TO DODGERS “SISTERS” GAME
Today, the Catholic League will contact 236 of the most prominent Hispanic leaders in the Los Angeles area, asking them to spread the word about our request for area Catholics not to attend the June 16 Dodgers game that will honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic group of drag queens.
Our appeal is being made to the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders, the LA Latino Chamber of Commerce, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Los Angeles. All 236 leaders will receive a letter that details our request, and a copy of the report that I wrote about the history of anti-Catholic acts committed by the “Sisters.”
This brings to over 700 Catholic leaders we have contacted in Los Angeles asking them to tell their constituents not to attend the June 16 game.
ROUND 2 OF KABC RADIO AD v. DODGERS
We are so happy with the strong response to our KABC Los Angeles radio ad against the Dodgers that we have decided to do it again.
Last week, we ran 25 ads, 30 seconds each, imploring listeners not to attend the June 16 “Pride Night” game featuring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; the ads ran June 6-9. Our next round runs from June 12-15.
We will have more to say about the June 16 game throughout the week. It is important that attendance at this game drop below the attendance for last year’s “Pride Night” game. Major League Baseball needs to get the message—not just the Dodgers: Anti-Catholic bigotry should no more be tolerated than any other expression of hate.
NON-CATHOLIC VIPS CONTACTED
Our campaign against the Dodgers continues today with an appeal to non-Catholic leaders in the Los Angeles area. We are asking 114 of the most prominent members of the following religious communities to join our campaign: Evangelical Protestants, Mormons, Muslims and Orthodox Jews. We are sending them a copy of our report on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Our campaign has a defined goal: We want to drive down the attendance at the June 16 game that is honoring the “Sisters.” If we succeed in doing so, it will make it unlikely that other baseball teams will follow the lead of the Dodgers.
CATHOLIC DAUGHTERS JOINS OUR CAMPAIGN
We are proud to announce that the Catholic Daughters of America has joined our campaign against the Dodgers for honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on June 16. “We applaud the work that you do,” is how Kelly Carter of the organization put it.
The Catholic Daughters of America is comprised of over 60,000 Catholic women in the continental United States and its territories. On June 7, they passed a resolution condemning the Dodgers for their invitation to the “Sisters.”
The key to our protest is to persuade people in the Los Angeles area, especially Catholics, not to attend the June 16 game. If the attendance is down from last year’s “Pride Night,” that will be a very important cultural marker.
“LAST CALL” TO L.A. CATHOLICS
It all began May 16. That was the day we launched a massive email campaign asking our followers to contact Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, protesting the decision by the Los Angeles Dodgers to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on “Pride Night” June 16. The very next day, the Dodgers pivoted and disinvited the bigots. Then they pivoted again, reinviting them.
Over the past five weeks we have been relentless in our quest for a boycott of the June 16 game. We disseminated a report I wrote on the anti-Catholic antics of the “Sisters” wide and far, including a mailing to over 300 parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Our boycott will not extend beyond Friday night. We chose one game for one reason: Prudence dictates that we can’t get fans to boycott all Dodgers games. But we may be able to persuade them not to attend the June 16 game.
This is our “Last Call” to all of those key players in the Los Angeles area that we have contacted over the past several weeks. We are contacting all of them again.
