EDITOR'S NOTE: Multimedia journalist Logan Hall spoke with a member of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence about the Los Angeles Dodgers' recent decision to withdraw an invitation for the group. Click the arrow above to watch the video.

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The Los Angeles Dodgers faced mounting criticism Thursday for the team’s decision to withdraw an invitation it extended to a group dubbed The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to participate in the team’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night.

The team’s decision, announced Wednesday, came after complaints raised by several Catholic organizations and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who said the group — billed as an “order of queer and trans nuns” — regularly disparaged Christians.

“This year, as part of a full night of programming, we invited a number of groups to join us,” according to a statement issued by the team Wednesday. “We are now aware that our inclusion of one group in particular — The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — in this year’s Pride Night has been the source of some controversy.

“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 group had been scheduled to receive a Community Hero Award at the team’s June 16 Pride Night, honoring its efforts to promote human rights, diversity and “spiritual enlightenment.”

The Sisters issued a statement Thursday expressing “deep offense” at being uninvited to the event, calling the decision a capitulation to “hateful and misleading information from people outside their community.” The group insisted it is a nonprofit organization that “annually raises thousands of dollars to distribute to organizations supporting marginalized communities.”

“Our ministry is real. We promulgate universal joy, expiate stigmatic guilt and our use of religious trappings is a response to those faiths whose members would condemn us and seek to strip away the rights of marginalized communities,” Sister Rosie Partridge, described as the “abbess” of the group, said in a statement.

Other high-profile Southland supporters of LGBTQ rights also chimed in, expressing disappointment in the Dodgers’ decision.

“We call on the Dodgers to reconsider their decision, honor the Sisters, and bring the true spirit of Pride back to Dodgers Stadium,” Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner said in a statement. “If the decision is not reversed, we strongly encourage the Dodgers to cancel Pride Night. Any organization that turns its back on LGBTQ+ people at this damning and dangerous inflection point in our nation’s history should not be hoisting a rainbow flag or hosting a ‘Pride Night.’

“We want the Dodgers ally ship to be consistent with our experience partnering with them over the past many years. The people of Los Angeles County have consistently and overwhelmingly shown up for LGBTQ+ equality. If one of our most beloved institutions — the Dodgers — refuses to stand by us at this moment, we are terrified of what will come next. Los Angeles is a leader — not a follower. We call on the Dodgers to set an example.”

The organizers of LA Pride issued a statement saying they “are very disappointed” in the Dodgers’ decision.

“As a result and in solidarity with our community, LA Pride will not be participating in this year’s Dodgers Pride Night event,” according to the group. “Pride is a fight for equality and inclusion for the entire LGBTQ+ community and we’re not going to stop now. Let’s make this year’s Pride celebration louder than ever.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, wrote on his Twitter page, “Hey Dodgers, this is shameful and you will not divide and separate our community. I hope we all boycott your ‘Pride Night’ and protest this cowardly decision.”

The Sisters’ website describes the organization as “a leading-edge order of queer and trans nuns.”

“We believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty. Since our first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday 1979, the Sisters have devoted ourselves to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment. We use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit,” the group says.

The Dodgers’ original decision to honor the group drew criticism from various Catholic organizations. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, accused the team of “rewarding anti-Catholicism” by honoring the group.

“The Catholic League has been the leading critic of this bigoted organization for many decades,” Donohue wrote on the organization’s website. “... These homosexual bigots are known for simulating sodomy while dressed as nuns.”

He added, “Just last month, they held an event mocking our Blessed Mother and Jesus on Easter Sunday.”

Donohue said he wrote to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to protest the Dodgers’ decision to honor the group.

Rubio also sent a complaint to Manfred, saying the group “mocks Christians through diabolical parodies of our faith.”

“Do you believe that the Los Angeles Dodgers are being ‘inclusive and welcoming to everyone’ by giving an award to a group of gay and transgender drag performers that intentionally mocks and degrades Christians — and not only Christians, but nuns, who devote their lives to serving others?” Rubio wrote in his letter.

The organization Catholic Vote also condemned the group’s inclusion in the Dodgers’ event. Its president, Brian Burch, issued a statement Wednesday hailing the team’s decision to exclude the group, which he called “an anti-Catholic hate group known for their gross mockery of Catholic nuns.”

“While we continue to wonder how such a group was selected in the first place, this incident should serve as a wake-up call for all religious believers: unchecked woke corporations have no qualms about exploiting people of faith,” Burch said.

On Wednesday night, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath blasted the team for dis-inviting the Sisters.

“If they’re not invited, I’m not going,” she wrote on her Twitter page. “Celebrating Pride is about inclusion. Do better.”

Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Santa Monica and a longtime LGBTQ+ civil rights advocate, also condemned the exclusion of the Sisters.

“I’m deeply saddened by the hate & ignorance perpetuated by leaders of other states for cheap political points, & I am truly disappointed that our beloved LA Dodgers have given into their manufactured outrage,” Zbur wrote on Twitter. “LGBTQ+ lives, families, love & existence have long been characterized as offensive & controversial, but we do not give in to those calls. I urge the Dodgers to reverse this decision & ensure our home team reflects the true Los Angeles values of inclusion & acceptance.”