CV NEWS FEED // As the Los Angeles Dodgers face national scrutiny for reinviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI) to be honored at an upcoming event, Catholic leaders in LA and beyond have begun to condemn the anti-Catholic hate group.

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The Archdiocese of Los Angeles released a statement Tuesday denouncing SPI and encouraged Catholics to “stand against bigotry and hate in any form and to stand for respect for one another and for the religious beliefs of our communities of faith.” 

SPI is a troupe of men who dress in lewd costumes mimicking the habits of nuns and performing acts of sacrilege against Catholic symbols and sacraments. But the responses that have begun to roll in from Catholic authorities represent an increasingly unified Catholic front against the Dodgers.

The archdiocese called on Catholics to send “a message of support” to true religious sisters “through phone calls, letters, and posts on their social channels, supporting vocations by donating to their orders, and/or making donations in their name to the programs they support.” 

The archdiocese’s marching orders concluded: “Let us show the world how much our women religious mean to us and our Church.”

Other Catholic authorities in California have also expressed their disapproval of SPI – and of the LA Dodgers’ embrace of the hate group, in the past week.

“Our Catholic sisters devote themselves to serving others selflessly. Decent people would not mock & blaspheme them,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco tweeted.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco alone is home to 47 communities of religious women and 20 communities of religious men. 

These communities are devoted to teaching, ministering to, and praying for the residents of the San Francisco Archdiocese and the world.

The Archbishop continued, “So we now know what gods the Dodger admin worships. Open desecration & anti-Catholicism is not disqualifying. Disappointing but not surprising.” 

“Gird your loins,” he added, suggesting Catholics should prepare for future confrontations with the secular world. 

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Cordileone’s statement came just days after the neighboring Diocese of Orange issued a similar condemnation of SPI.

“The decision to openly embrace a group whose demeaning behavior is anti-Catholic and anti-Christian is misguided and disrespectful to the sisters of the Catholic Church who minister in Orange County and selflessly dedicate their lives to God’s underserved people,” read a statement from the diocese. “We cannot condone any actions that have historically shown such high levels of disregard for the sincerely held beliefs of the faithful.”

That statement came in response to the decision of the mayor of Anaheim, CA, to invite SPI to be her personal guests at an upcoming LA Angels game. Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, a self-professed Catholic, made the move in an apparent rebuke of those who spoke out against the anti-Catholic group.

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