The Boy Scouts of America's new policy to accept members based on their gender identity will have no impact on Scouting units sponsored by the Catholic Church, said the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.
On January 30th, the Boy Scouts announced that effective immediately, the Texas-based organization will determine membership eligibility for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts on a youth's gender identity as indicated on the membership application. Previously, the policy based eligibility on the gender indicated on a youth's birth certificate.
On February 4th, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting stated that the change in policy "has no impact on the operation and program delivery of Scouting program(s) in Catholic-chartered units."
"Scouting serves the Catholic Church through the charter concept, which is similar to a franchise," it said. "The units chartered to a Catholic institution are owned by that organization. The BSA has stipulated that religious partners will continue to have the right to make decisions for their units based on their religious beliefs."
The statement was signed by George S. Sparks, national chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, and Father Kevin M. Smith, a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., who is national chaplain of Catholic Scouting. The statement was approved by Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone of Charleston, S.C., who is the episcopal liaison between Catholic Scouting and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Sparks and Father Smith said in their statement: "Scouting's chartered organizations have the right to uphold their own moral standards within the units they charter. The teachings of the Catholic Church are upheld."
I deplore the mealy-mouthed and cowardly responses of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting and the national chaplain.
It appears the moral principle underlying their statement is this: since the policy doesn’t affect Catholic-chartered scouting groups, then we have nothing to say one way or the other about the moral implications of such decisions.
Why is it that when the Church has the ability to really make its impact felt upon such sexually deviant policy as this one as well as the ability of homosexuals to exercise leadership roles in the scouting program that it shirks the opportunity?
The fact is about 70 % of Boy Scout troops are run by faith-based groups.
What a horrible example the Church and other faith-based groups set by not withdrawing their affiliation and support from the Boy Scouts, thus crippling the organization and the continuing misguided direction it has chosen to take in recent years.
The Archdiocese of Saint Louis issued a statement indicating that the local Church was “distressed” by this decision. How pitiful!
The Archdiocese and the Bishops of the United States need to be more than distressed.
They need to be outraged and express that outrage in the unanimous decision to disassociate from the Boy Scouts. What a clear statement about the idiocy of gender identity agendas that would make!
Sadly, our Catholic hierarchy and leadership is so weak and compromised that they remain silent.
Hopefully, parents of impressionable boys will make the decent and rational decision to withdraw their children from scouting and seek to enroll them in other formation programs which truly reflect Gospel values, if there are any still left to be found anywhere in the land.
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