Don’t Cling to Hatred. Live with Compassion.
Image courtesy of Joe Mabel via Creative Commons
I’d never heard of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence until news about the Los Angeles Dodgers disinviting the sisters from the baseball team’s Pride Night appeared in my local newspaper.
I felt horror, fury, and sadness when I read how members of my Catholic faith had treated the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in both words and actions. They spoke with venom as they referred to the sisters as "drag performers,” as if such a label made both drag performers and the sisters lesser than people, something less than human.
For those who believe in the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, have we forgotten the teachings he gave us? The teachings of loving one another?
It is gut-wrenching to see how hatred continues to thrive among us and towards our LGBTQIA+ siblings. These actions, the hatred, and the disregard of the command given by Jesus Christ himself, to love one another, done by these Catholics who are so sure they speak for all Catholics, do not speak for all Catholics.
I won’t have my faith and my values, such as the value of loving one another, be twisted, manipulated, and used for hatred and evil. I’m tired of my faith being weaponized and used to oppress our fellow human beings. Has history taught us nothing?
Those who claim what the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are doing—wearing traditional nun garments—is anti-Catholic don’t understand the misery they, not the sisters, are causing. Being anti-Catholic is hurting one another. Being anti-Catholic is ignoring the basic teachings of Jesus in being compassionate to one another. Being anti-Catholic is doing nothing as predators who abuse children, under the disguise of holiness, continue to walk free in our Church.
The Sisters of Indulgence have done nothing wrong; they’ve only performed acts of mercy for those pushed aside by society. They are more radiant and more exemplary of Catholic Social Teaching than those who do nothing but hold hatred in their hearts toward anything they deem "unnatural."
Enough is enough. Those who cling to hatred and repulsiveness in their hearts do not speak for me and the many Catholics who disagree with you.
May the Sisters of Indulgence continue their ministry and illuminate the world as examples with their love and mercy towards one another.
Image courtesy of Tiffani Castro
Tiffani Castro was born and raised in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley (SFV). She was a member of Call To Action’s 2021 Re/Generation cohort. Tiffani has been motivated in combating homelessness, helping the poor, and taking care of the environment by both her faith and what she believes is the duty of any human being.
