ROME (LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has once again prominently displayed the LGBT “pride” flag on the exterior of the large building it occupies in central Rome, in direct defiance of Catholic teaching on LGBT issues.
In a message issued on its social media platforms, the U.S. Embassy announced June 1 that for the month the nation “celebrates Pride Month.”
READ: ‘Boycott Target’ rap song hits number one on iTunes: ‘Let’s protest until they close’
The embassy “stands with the LBGTQI+ community against discrimination and other forms of persecution because of who they are and whom they love,” adds the message.
In the tweet, an image is displayed of the LGBT “Progress Pride” flag hanging on the outside of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See’s building.
During the month of June, the 🇺🇲 celebrates Pride Month 🏳️🌈. @usinholysee stands with the LBGTQI+ community against discrimination and other forms of persecution because of who they are and whom they love. ❤#pridemonth #humanrights #inclusion pic.twitter.com/URZUgvIOqt
— U.S. in Holy See (@USinHolySee) June 1, 2023
LifeSite visited the embassy on June 2, securing its own pictures of the flag, which is also being flown on the U.S. Embassy to Italy — a separate building lying adjacent to the embassy to the Holy See.
Yes, the US Embassy to the Holy See @USinHolySee is indeed currently flying the LGBT ‘progress’ pride flag – the only Holy See embassy to do so?
Current ambassador to Holy See has spoken of importance of his Catholic faith, but still pushes the LGBT agenda. pic.twitter.com/1tMp8oTZZ1— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) June 2, 2023
The flag has caused a storm on social media, earning criticism from many sides. “This is an abomination,” wrote one, with another user calling the move “so disgraceful.”
Many asked the U.S. Embassy if such a flag would be flown in strongly Muslim countries, stating that “this is anti Catholic bigotry.” Idaho Republican state Rep. Heather Scott also slated the move as “pure blasphemy.”
While a number of nations — such as the U.K., Ireland, Argentina, Russia, and Taiwan — base their Holy See embassies in the vicinity of the Vatican, the U.S. embassy is more towards the center of Rome.
READ: Russian President Putin mocks US embassy for flying gay pride flag
The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has displayed the LGBT flag on previous years, but this appears to be the first year that the more “inclusive” LGBT “Progress” flag has been flown.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also denoted his public support for the LGBT agenda, writing how “[e]very June we celebrate LGBTQI+ persons around the world and mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Five decades later, Pride Month reminds us of the spirit of democratic protest and that all persons are created equal.”
The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See’s decision to fly the LGBT flag comes as a direct act against diplomatic principles under which embassies are normally expected to run. The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual activity is “gravel immoral,” and thus, promotion of an activity condemned by the Church represents a strongly political statement against the Vatican.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1986 document on the pastoral care of homosexual persons noted that a homosexual inclination is “a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”
This was echoed later, with the catechism noting that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law.” The catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “[h]omosexual persons are called to chastity.”
“By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection,” reads the catechism.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have decided to honor the blasphemous anti-Catholic drag group, the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”, with a Community Hero Award on June 16, the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
This blatant contempt for the Catholic faith cannot go unchallenged.
SIGN: The LA Dodgers must revoke their plan to honor these ‘transgender nuns’
The Major League Baseball franchise said it had decided to honor the group — which engages in deliberately offensive sexualized burlesque mockeries of Catholicism — after initially canceling plans to do so when the public expressed outrage.
“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the statement read.
In one move, you managed to turn off conservatives and slap Christians in the face with disgusting drag nuns. What a disgrace you’ve become. Was recently at a game. Won’t be coming back.
— Courrielche⚡️ (@courrielche) May 23, 2023
The baseball team said it will ask the sacrilegious group “to take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16th.”
SIGN: The LA Dodgers must NOT allow this mockery to take place
The Dodgers’ Monday announcement comes after it previously agreed to dis-invite the group after outrage by Catholics and other conservatives.
Among others, Catholic Vote and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida vocally objected to the decision to honor the so-called “sisters.”
“Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees,” the team said in a since-deleted May 17 announcement.
San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone had previously thanked the Dodgers for their decision to roll back the invitation.
In its Monday statement, after apologizing for temporarily dis-inviting the anti-Catholic hate group, the Dodgers promised to “work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all our fans who make diversity part of the Dodgers family.”
Make your voice heard NOW, before this blasphemy takes center stage.
SIGN: The LA Dodgers must not honor anti-Catholic, anti-Christian drag ‘nuns’
Conservatives responded on social media by slamming the baseball team for caving.
“Yes, it is vital that the national pastime honor and support those who mock religion and decency,” reacted Daily Wire co-founder and podcaster Ben Shapiro.
“The Gay Mafia will always extract their payment for ‘protection,’ said Crisis magazine editor-in-chief Eric Sammons.
Some social media users hinted that the team should face the same backlash as beer company Bud Light, which is continuing to endure a massive boycott after its decision to honor transgender-identifying TikTok activist Dylan Mulvaney.
But the Dodgers weren’t always woke and divorced from traditional religious practice.
Former Dodgers great Sandy Koufax, a left-handed pitcher who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in fame in 1972, famously refused to pitch during Game 1 of the World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, the most important holy day in the Jewish calendar. He previously opted out of games that landed on Passover and Rosh Hashanah.
And Koufax wasn’t alone in living an active faith. Legendary announcer Vin Scully, the “Voice of the Dodgers” for 67 years, was a staunch Catholic. Scully, who passed away last year at age 94, was described by Catholic News Agency’s Jonah McKeown as “a devout Catholic who found in his faith a source of joy and comfort and sought to share it with others through personal kindness and philanthropy.”
As LifeSiteNews previously reported, Scully was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and even narrated a two-CD audio recording of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2016.
SIGN & SHARE our urgent petition today – do not be silent as the Catholic faith is attacked!
READ: US embassy at the Vatican displays homosexual pride flag
As noted previously by LifeSite, the current U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See is Joe Donnelly, a former Democratic U.S. Senator from Indiana and self-professed “Catholic” who supports homosexual “marriage” and opposed former President Donald Trump’s ban on “transgender” individuals serving in the U.S. military.
In an interview earlier this year, he spoke about the personal importance of his professed Catholic faith and stated that religious beliefs are “at the core of almost everything we see.”
Despite such statements, Donnelly has overseen the flying of the LGBT flags during June ever since he arrived to his post in April 2022.
LifeSite contacted the embassy to enquire about the flag, but was unable to reach on official due to an Italian public holiday.