A reporter pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to re-invite an anti-Catholic group to their Pride event.
The Dodgers initially disinvited an anti-Catholic group called the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” (SPI) from their list of honorees after receiving backlash from Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Catholic organizations. The group describes itself as a “leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns” who often depict Jesus and nuns in a sexualized manner to mock Catholics.
“The president is Catholic, we all know. What is his reaction to this?” EWTN reporter Owen Jenson asked.
“Look, I appreciate the question, Owen. I’m just not going to get into the middle of who a sports team is going to honor, or should honor or should not honor. That’s just not something that I’m going to get in the middle of,” Jean-Pierre said.
“It’s very important to him [Biden], religious freedom. He’s issued statements on it in the past saying all people of all religions should be treated with equal dignity and respect. I know you’ve just said you’ll stay out of but isn’t this a prime example of something like that?” Jensen pushed. (RELATED: ‘Stands Against Freedom’: Tulsi Gabbard Condemns LA Dodgers For Inviting Anti-Catholic Group To Pride Event)
“I’m just not going to get into the middle of a sports team decides to honor or not honor,” the press secretary said. “I’m just not going to get in the middle of that, but I appreciate the question.”
The Dodgers issued a statement Tuesday announcing the SPI had gotten a second invitation to be honored at the event after the team received backlash from LGBTQ activists. The statement also offered the team’s “sincerest apologies” to the group and the LGBTQ community.
CatholicVote criticized the decision and said the team “will now celebrate ‘go and sin some more’ anti-Catholic bigotry. This is a slap in the face of every Catholic.”
Rubio wrote a May 16 letter urging the team to revoke its invitation over the group’s “anti-Catholic” bigotry.
“Shamefully, (but not surprisingly) [the Dodgers] have been bullied into apologizing to & ‘re-inviting’ a group of anti-catholic bigots,” Rubio wrote Monday in response to the team’s decision to re-invite the group. “Today our great country is controlled by socio-political ruling elites who don’t just tolerate anti-Christian bigotry, they encourage & celebrate it.”
The group has a history of anti-Catholic stunts, including allegedly tricking a bishop into giving its members communion so they could defile the hosts and performing a pole dance on a cross.