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Sen. Hawley says MLB admits error in warning Giants players over Bible verses #Catholic Major League Baseball (MLB) will not punish the three San Francisco Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their caps during the team’s gay pride celebrations and blamed the incident on poor communication from the franchise, according to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.Hawley posted a letter on X, which he said he received from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred after the senator accused the league of discrimination and the Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation into the matter.The incident stemmed from the Giants’ June 12 “Pride Night,” in which most players wore caps that infused a gay pride rainbow into the team logo. Three players inscribed Bible verses on the caps, with one referencing Genesis 9:12-16, in which God tells Noah the rainbow 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” and promises to never flood the entire Earth again.After the game, the Giants apologized for the players causing “pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community” and the MLB issued warnings, which Manfred said was simply enforcing its content-neutral prohibition on writing messages on uniforms.In the letter Hawley posted, Manfred said players cannot be forced to wear the pride-inspired uniform, but blamed the Giants for not properly communicating to players that it is optional. He said “the Giants’ communication with players was inadequate and not clear” but the MLB warnings to the players were delivered before the league became aware of that.“Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result,” the commissioner added.He said the players “were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.” He said the MLB “believes in the right of our players and fans to express their religious beliefs and at the same time supports the communities in this country that are fans of our clubs, including the LGBTQ community.”“We believe that a policy permitting our clubs to celebrate or honor segments of its fanbase, yet does not require players or other on-field personnel to directly participate in the celebration in ways that makes them uncomfortable, strikes the right balance,” he wrote.Neither the MLB nor the Giants responded to requests for comment from EWTN News about the letter.Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, sent a letter to Manfred last week to inform him that the DOJ will use all available means to hold employers accountable for any discrimination against Christians and that the incident was referred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).In spite of the MLB’s position that the policy banning written messages is content-neutral, the DOJ letter contends that the league has a “double standard” when it comes to enforcement, noting that players were allowed to wear “Black Lives Matter” messages in spite of the general prohibition.This incident came less than a month after the Washington Nationals fired Sean Hudson, its former director of community relations, for saying the team tries to avoid the inclusion of pitcher Trevor Williams in promotional materials because of his Catholic faith.Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, urged the Justice Department to reexamine the MLB’s antitrust exemption because of the incident and to investigate potential patterns of discriminatory actions.
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Sen. Hawley says MLB admits error in warning Giants players over Bible verses #Catholic Major League Baseball (MLB) will not punish the three San Francisco Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their caps during the team’s gay pride celebrations and blamed the incident on poor communication from the franchise, according to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.Hawley posted a letter on X, which he said he received from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred after the senator accused the league of discrimination and the Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation into the matter.The incident stemmed from the Giants’ June 12 “Pride Night,” in which most players wore caps that infused a gay pride rainbow into the team logo. Three players inscribed Bible verses on the caps, with one referencing Genesis 9:12-16, in which God tells Noah the rainbow 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” and promises to never flood the entire Earth again.After the game, the Giants apologized for the players causing “pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community” and the MLB issued warnings, which Manfred said was simply enforcing its content-neutral prohibition on writing messages on uniforms.In the letter Hawley posted, Manfred said players cannot be forced to wear the pride-inspired uniform, but blamed the Giants for not properly communicating to players that it is optional. He said “the Giants’ communication with players was inadequate and not clear” but the MLB warnings to the players were delivered before the league became aware of that.“Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result,” the commissioner added.He said the players “were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.” He said the MLB “believes in the right of our players and fans to express their religious beliefs and at the same time supports the communities in this country that are fans of our clubs, including the LGBTQ community.”“We believe that a policy permitting our clubs to celebrate or honor segments of its fanbase, yet does not require players or other on-field personnel to directly participate in the celebration in ways that makes them uncomfortable, strikes the right balance,” he wrote.Neither the MLB nor the Giants responded to requests for comment from EWTN News about the letter.Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, sent a letter to Manfred last week to inform him that the DOJ will use all available means to hold employers accountable for any discrimination against Christians and that the incident was referred to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).In spite of the MLB’s position that the policy banning written messages is content-neutral, the DOJ letter contends that the league has a “double standard” when it comes to enforcement, noting that players were allowed to wear “Black Lives Matter” messages in spite of the general prohibition.This incident came less than a month after the Washington Nationals fired Sean Hudson, its former director of community relations, for saying the team tries to avoid the inclusion of pitcher Trevor Williams in promotional materials because of his Catholic faith.Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, urged the Justice Department to reexamine the MLB’s antitrust exemption because of the incident and to investigate potential patterns of discriminatory actions.

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The MLB commissioner said in a letter that the Giants did not adequately inform the players that gay pride caps were optional, Hawley said.

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Former Russian Orthodox ‘foreign minister’ freed after Czech drug probe #Catholic Czech police arrested Metropolitan Hilarion, a prominent clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, on suspicion of drug possession during a vehicle stop on May 24. Officers acted “on anonymous information” about the alleged “transportation of narcotics and psychotropic substances.”A few grams of an unidentified substance were found in the vehicle, though the discovery “does not answer the central question: how the items ended up in the vehicle,” Hilarion said, denying “any involvement in the illegal possession or transportation of prohibited substances.”He was released May 26 after protests from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called the detention a “deliberate, orchestrated provocation” and summoned a Czech diplomat in Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church likewise defended him, saying the incident “looks like a classic farce” since drug smuggling is often used by “unscrupulous police officers around the world.”No charges have been brought, and Hilarion is free without restrictions while the investigation continues, according to a statement on his Telegram account. His team also called the arrest “a provocation,” claiming he had received anonymous death threats demanding he leave the country.Who is Hilarion?Metropolitan Hilarion, whose secular name is Grigory Alfeyev, headed the Moscow Patriarchateʼs Department for External Church Relations from 2009 to 2022, a role often described as the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs “foreign minister.” He was widely regarded as a close ally of Patriarch Kirill and a possible successor.In June 2022, he was removed from the post and appointed to the Budapest diocese, a move widely interpreted as a demotion. During Pope Francis' apostolic trip to Budapest in April 2023, the two held a private meeting at the apostolic nunciature.In July 2024, Hilarion was accused of sexual harassment by George Suzuki, a former personal attendant. Hilarion denied the allegations. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church subsequently declared “the inconsistency of the nature of his relations with his immediate environment and his life with the image of a monk and clergyman” and removed him from the Budapest diocese on Dec. 27, 2024. He has since been serving at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in western Czech Republic.Rising tensions over the Russian Orthodox Church in Czech RepublicSergei Chapnin, a Russian church affairs scholar at Fordham University and former employee of the Moscow Patriarchate, offered two possible explanations for the incident. First, Hilarion may serve “as a high-level courier” who “moves sensitive documents and other items around Western Europe” since “Russian diplomats are closely monitored and constrained in their movements.” Second, Hilarion was operating “inside a very rough political and ecclesiastical game … over assets and influence” involving local Orthodox communities.The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul was recently registered under the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary to prevent Czech authorities from freezing Russian assets. Patriarch Kirill, the churchʼs head, is personally listed on the Czech national sanctions list for his support of Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine.Concerns about the churchʼs role in Czech Republic have been escalating. The Czech security agencyʼs annual report said the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs local representatives are loyal to the Moscow leadership and their “support for the Russian official line is evident.”A study titled “Security Risks of the Orthodox Church,” published by the Czech Academy of Sciences in 2025, called for systematic monitoring of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country. The authors recommended investigating “activities with regard to the danger of money laundering, purposeful export of funds and property, smuggling of goods and people, passing information to the enemy, for example the Russian side, [and] influencing the opinions of Czech society through social networks.”The study also noted that the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary allegedly hosted meetings involving Russian military intelligence (GRU) officials.In a related case, a Prague court recently convicted former Orthodox abbess Taťána Hanhur for the unauthorized transfer of a monastery and property worth 73 million Czech crowns (approximately $3.2 million). The property had belonged to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
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Former Russian Orthodox ‘foreign minister’ freed after Czech drug probe #Catholic Czech police arrested Metropolitan Hilarion, a prominent clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, on suspicion of drug possession during a vehicle stop on May 24. Officers acted “on anonymous information” about the alleged “transportation of narcotics and psychotropic substances.”A few grams of an unidentified substance were found in the vehicle, though the discovery “does not answer the central question: how the items ended up in the vehicle,” Hilarion said, denying “any involvement in the illegal possession or transportation of prohibited substances.”He was released May 26 after protests from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called the detention a “deliberate, orchestrated provocation” and summoned a Czech diplomat in Moscow. The Russian Orthodox Church likewise defended him, saying the incident “looks like a classic farce” since drug smuggling is often used by “unscrupulous police officers around the world.”No charges have been brought, and Hilarion is free without restrictions while the investigation continues, according to a statement on his Telegram account. His team also called the arrest “a provocation,” claiming he had received anonymous death threats demanding he leave the country.Who is Hilarion?Metropolitan Hilarion, whose secular name is Grigory Alfeyev, headed the Moscow Patriarchateʼs Department for External Church Relations from 2009 to 2022, a role often described as the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs “foreign minister.” He was widely regarded as a close ally of Patriarch Kirill and a possible successor.In June 2022, he was removed from the post and appointed to the Budapest diocese, a move widely interpreted as a demotion. During Pope Francis' apostolic trip to Budapest in April 2023, the two held a private meeting at the apostolic nunciature.In July 2024, Hilarion was accused of sexual harassment by George Suzuki, a former personal attendant. Hilarion denied the allegations. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church subsequently declared “the inconsistency of the nature of his relations with his immediate environment and his life with the image of a monk and clergyman” and removed him from the Budapest diocese on Dec. 27, 2024. He has since been serving at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in western Czech Republic.Rising tensions over the Russian Orthodox Church in Czech RepublicSergei Chapnin, a Russian church affairs scholar at Fordham University and former employee of the Moscow Patriarchate, offered two possible explanations for the incident. First, Hilarion may serve “as a high-level courier” who “moves sensitive documents and other items around Western Europe” since “Russian diplomats are closely monitored and constrained in their movements.” Second, Hilarion was operating “inside a very rough political and ecclesiastical game … over assets and influence” involving local Orthodox communities.The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul was recently registered under the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary to prevent Czech authorities from freezing Russian assets. Patriarch Kirill, the churchʼs head, is personally listed on the Czech national sanctions list for his support of Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine.Concerns about the churchʼs role in Czech Republic have been escalating. The Czech security agencyʼs annual report said the Russian Orthodox Churchʼs local representatives are loyal to the Moscow leadership and their “support for the Russian official line is evident.”A study titled “Security Risks of the Orthodox Church,” published by the Czech Academy of Sciences in 2025, called for systematic monitoring of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country. The authors recommended investigating “activities with regard to the danger of money laundering, purposeful export of funds and property, smuggling of goods and people, passing information to the enemy, for example the Russian side, [and] influencing the opinions of Czech society through social networks.”The study also noted that the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary allegedly hosted meetings involving Russian military intelligence (GRU) officials.In a related case, a Prague court recently convicted former Orthodox abbess Taťána Hanhur for the unauthorized transfer of a monastery and property worth 73 million Czech crowns (approximately $3.2 million). The property had belonged to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

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Metropolitan Hilarion, once tipped as successor to Patriarch Kirill, was released without charges after Czech police found an unidentified substance in his vehicle.

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