Trevor Williams is the current pitcher for the Washington Nationals who describes himself in his Twitter bio as a “servant of Christ.” He took to Twitter on Tuesday to post a powerful statement on his religious beliefs, his view of baseball, and what he thinks of the decision the Dodgers made to allow the anti-Catholic “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” in this year’s pride celebration. In the statement, he said:
As a devout Catholic, I am deeply troubled by the Dodgers’ decision to re-invite and honor the group ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ at their Pride Night this year.
A Major League Baseball game is a place where people from all walks of life should feel welcomed, something I greatly respect and support. This is the purpose of different themed nights hosted by the organization, including Pride Night.
To invite and honor a group that makes a blatant and deeply offensive mockery of my religion, and the religion of over 4 million people in Los Angeles county alone, undermines the values of respect and inclusivity that should be upheld by any organization.
Creating an environment in which one group feels celebrated and honored at the expense of another is counterproductive and wrong. It is a clear violation of the Dodgers’ Discrimination Policy, which explicitly states that any conduct or attire at the ballpark that is deemed to be indecent or prejudice against any particular group (or religion) is not tolerated.
It seems that the Dodgers have made an exception in this case, doubling down that this group – which grossly disrespects and openly mocks many of the traditions and beliefs that Catholics hold most dear – should be celebrated.
I believe it is essential for the Dodgers to reconsider their association with this group and strive to create an inclusive environment that does not demean or disrespect the religious beliefs of any fan or employee.
1 also encourage my fellow Catholics to reconsider their support of an organization that allows this type of mockery of its fans to occur.
1 know I am not alone in my frustration, hurt, and disappointment about this situation.
As Catholics, we look to Jesus Christ and the way He was treated and we realize that any suffering in this world unites us to Him in the next.
— Trevor Williams (@MeLlamoTrevor) May 30, 2023
Williams received an outpouring of support in his stance from people on Twitter. Conservative commentator Greg Price, for instance, said, “You’re going to be attacked for this by a lot of freaks with pronouns in their bios but just know that the majority of people and especially the majority of baseball fans agree with you. ✝️”
Similarly, Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham said, “Thank you so much for this Mr. Williams. Your courage to take a stand all alone in the pressure cooker of professional sports is a model for all faithful Christians.”
Another commenter said, “God Bless you! Thank you for speaking out on this for us Catholic Dodger fans and all Christians who enjoy watching the game. 🙏🏼📿🕊️”
Williams’ statement comes after Bishop Robert Barron called on people to boycott the Dodgers, saying:
“I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about this controversy involving the LA Dodgers and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. You know, the Dodgers invited this group, which I think can only be described as an anti-Catholic hate group invited them to be honored at the Dodger Stadium.
“Then, when there was a howl of protest from Catholics and others, they disinvited them good move, but then they re-invited them, and their re-invitation was accompanied by a kind of pathetic apology where they were praised for all the great work that they do.
“And look, I’m not going to go into all the details, look them up on YouTube or something, you’d find what they do. I’ll give you one example, I think was on Easter Sunday, there was a display where they have Jesus on the cross of the most sacred moment in history for Catholics. And a drag queen comes in and kind of pulls Jesus off the cross then does a sort of pole dance on the cross.
“For Catholics. It’s hard to imagine anything more offensive than that. Suppose this group had dressed up in a kind of simulacrum of a rabbi and it does something deeply disrespectful to the Torah or take it a step further and dressed up in a, you know, mockery of a Muslim cleric or Imam, and then it desecrated the Koran. What would the reaction be? You know, those questions answer themselves but somehow attacking Catholics in this most disgraceful way, is okay, not only okay, it should be honored.
“You know, everybody I’ve said this before, but there’s a long tradition in our country of anti-Catholicism. It was said famously, oh, about a century ago, the last acceptable prejudice in America is anti-Catholicism, but we shouldn’t tolerate it. One thing I would say since the Dodgers clearly are not responding to a decent appeal to reason.
“I encourage my friends back in LA…look, I was auxilary vicia. For six years in LA, I throw out the first pitch at a Dodgers game a few years ago. But I encourage my friends back there, boycott the Dodgers. May I say to especially my Hispanic friends, many of whom are big baseball fans out there. This is your religion is the religion of your family of your abuela in a way, though, of your familia, you’re the CEO and why are we tolerating this we shouldn’t be tolerated. So let’s pray everybody. Let’s pray for the defense of our faith and let’s stand for the Catholic faith.”
Featured image credit: By A dIngo took my baby from San Francisco – The Pope ala Jackie O, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2173896
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