EWTN News portal reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Major League Baseball for alleged religious discrimination against San Francisco Giants players who displayed Bible verses on their uniforms during the team’s “Pride Night” celebrations. The incident reveals the fundamental incompatibility between the modern secular order — with its fabricated “human rights” — and the immutable law of God, which demands that His truth be proclaimed without compromise, even when it offends the passions of the perverse.
The Primacy of God’s Law Over Human Legislation
The entire controversy exposes a foundational error of the modern world: the belief that human legislation can override divine law. The rainbow, as Sacred Scripture unequivocally declares, is “the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come” (Genesis 9:12-16). This is God’s covenant, established by His sovereign authority, and no human institution — be it a baseball league, a government, or a “civil rights” commission — has the authority to redefine it or to punish those who faithfully proclaim it.
Pope Pius XI, in the encyclical Quas Primas, taught with absolute clarity: “Christ possesses dominion over all creatures, not by force but by essence and nature,” and that “His reign encompasses all men… the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.” The State, far from being autonomous, derives its authority from God alone. As the same Pontiff declared: “When God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states and when authority was derived not from God but from men, the foundations of that authority were destroyed.”
The Department of Justice, in investigating Christian players for quoting Sacred Scripture, acts as though the positive law of the United States supersedes the eternal law of God. This is precisely the error condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors, which rejects the proposition that “the civil power has authority to rescind, declare and render null, solemn conventions entered into with the Apostolic See” (Proposition 43) and that “the entire government of public schools… may and ought to appertain to the civil power” (Proposition 45). The State has no competence whatsoever to adjudicate matters of faith or to determine which religious expressions are permissible in public life.
The Idolatry of “Human Rights” and the Cult of Man
The modern concept of “human rights” — divorced from its proper foundation in the natural law as understood by the Church — has become a weapon of tyranny. Pope Pius IX condemned this very error in the Syllabus: “The State, as being the origin and source of all rights, is endowed with a certain right not circumscribed by any limits” (Proposition 39). When the State declares itself the source of rights, it inevitably sets itself above God and demands obedience that belongs to Him alone.
The MLB’s “Pride Night” is not merely a celebration of sin; it is an act of worship directed toward the idol of the autonomous self. It demands that all participants — players, staff, and spectators — affirm a moral lie: that homosexual acts are good and that those who dissent are “hateful.” This is the cult of man that the Church has always condemned. As St. Pius X warned in Lamentabili sane exitu, the modernist error consists in making “man the measure of all things” and reducing religion to a merely human phenomenon.
The players who wrote Bible verses on their caps committed no offense against justice. They exercised the natural right — and indeed the moral duty — to bear witness to the truth. The Giants’ apology, stating that the display “caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community,” reveals the inverted moral order of the conciliar and post-conciliar world: the feelings of sinners take precedence over the rights of God.
The “Double Standard” and the Persecution of the Faithful
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, correctly identified the “double standard” in the MLB’s enforcement of its uniform policy. The league permitted players to wear “Black Lives Matter” messages — a political statement aligned with the secular progressive agenda — while prohibiting Bible verses. This selective enforcement exposes the true nature of the regime: it is not neutral but actively hostile to the Catholic faith and to Christian morality.
This is not a new phenomenon. Pope Pius IX, in the Syllabus, condemned the proposition that “Catholics may approve of the system of educating youth unconnected with Catholic faith and the power of the Church” (Proposition 48). The modern secular order demands exactly this: that Catholics approve of — or at least remain silent before — a system that excludes God and His law from public life.
The firing of Sean Hudson, director of community relations for the Washington Nationals, for stating that the team avoids including pitcher Trevor Williams in promotional materials due to his Catholic faith, is further evidence of systematic persecution. The Nationals’ refusal to comment speaks volumes: they know their actions are indefensible, even by the standards of their own corrupt system.
The Blasphemy of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
The article references the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — “a group of drag queens who dress like Catholic nuns and mock Catholic symbols and practices, which includes a blasphemous satire of the Mass.” This is not merely offensive; it is blasphemy in the strict theological sense: the public mockery of sacred things, which constitutes a grave sin against the virtue of religion.
The Church has always taught that blasphemy is a crime against divine majesty. The Council of Trent anathematizes those who deny the Church’s authority to establish discipline and to punish offenses against the faith. The Dodgers’ decision to honor such a group — and the subsequent backlash that forced a partial retreat — demonstrates the depth of the apostasy: even those who claim to respect “diversity” refuse to respect the most sacred beliefs of Christians.
Trevor Williams’ outspoken opposition to this blasphemy is commendable. He exercised the prophetic role that belongs to every Catholic: to confront error and to refuse complicity in evil. That his own team marginalizes him for this fidelity is a scandal that cries out to heaven for justice.
The False “Neutrality” of the Secular State
The MLB’s defense — that the warning to players “had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message” but was based on a uniform policy prohibiting handwritten messages — is a transparent lie. As Dhillon noted, the selective enforcement of this policy “calls MLB’s true motives into question.” A rule that is enforced against Christian expression but not against progressive political statements is not neutral; it is discriminatory by design.
Pope Leo XIII, in Immortale Dei, taught that the State cannot be indifferent to religion: “The Almighty, therefore, has given the charge of the human race to two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, each supreme in its own kind.” The modern secular State claims to be neutral, but in reality, it is hostile to the Catholic faith and favorable to every form of impiety. This is the laicism that Pius XI condemned in Quas Primas: “the secularism of our times, so-called laicism, its errors and wicked endeavors.”
The Duty of Catholic Witness in the Public Square
The Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, through spokesperson Peter Marlow, offered tepid support for the players: “people of faith should not be compelled to hide or suppress their sincerely held religious convictions in public life.” While this statement is true, it is woefully insufficient. The archdiocese should have unequivocally condemned the MLB’s actions as persecution, demanded the immediate reinstatement of Sean Hudson, and called upon all Catholics to boycott the Giants and the Dodgers until they repent of their blasphemy and discrimination.
Instead, the archdiocese’s statement is couched in the language of “diversity” and “respect” — the very language of the enemy. “Just as individuals with same-sex attraction deserve to be treated with dignity,” Marlow said, thereby equating the legitimate rights of persons with the illegitimate demands of a sinful agenda. This is the false compassion that has infected the post-conciliar Church and rendered it incapable of defending the faith.
The true Catholic position is that of Pope Pius IX: “The Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free — nor is she endowed with proper and perpetual rights of own, conferred upon her by her Divine Founder” is a condemned error (Proposition 19, Syllabus of Errors). The Church demands freedom not as a concession from the State but as a right conferred by God. And the faithful have the duty to resist, by all lawful means, every attempt to suppress the public profession of the faith.
Conclusion: The Incompatibility of Christ and the World
The MLB controversy is not an isolated incident; it is a symptom of the fundamental conflict between the City of God and the City of Man. As Pope Pius XI declared: “The Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men… the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.” No human institution — not the MLB, not the Department of Justice, not the United States government — has the authority to silence the proclamation of God’s truth.
The players who wrote Bible verses on their caps acted as true witnesses — martyres in the original sense of the word. They bore testimony to God’s covenant in the face of persecution. The Church must support them unequivocally, not with the weak language of “dialogue” and “respect,” but with the firm language of truth and justice.
Let the faithful remember the words of Our Lord: “If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). The hatred of the world is not a sign of failure but of fidelity. And let us pray for the conversion of those who persecute the faithful — and for the courage to resist, unto death, every attempt to silence the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Source:
Justice Department looks into alleged MLB religious discrimination (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 19.06.2026