New resources are now available for Boy Scout leaders and troop sponsors in advance of a controversial new policy on gay Scouts going into effect Jan. 1.
The National Catholic Committee on Scouting, the liaison between the U.S. Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America, released a one-page cover letter and 11 pages of frequently asked questions regarding the change in wording of BSA’s Youth Membership Standard. BSA approved a resolution May 23 stating youth may not be denied membership on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.
The cover letter, dated Nov. 11, was sent to every Catholic-chartered unit leader, committee chairperson and executive head in the nation. The FAQs may be viewed at www.nccs-bsa.org.
“Catholic Scouters like you are still very much needed,” reads the letter, co-signed by Edward P. Martin, NCCS national chairman and Father Michael Hanifin, national chaplain. “Our recommendations to you are the same as before: Seek understanding of the membership standard and how Catholic teaching applies and pray for wisdom.”
It is the first response to the field on the subject of the new regulations since Martin’s May 29 letter stating the policy does not violate Catholic teaching. Roseanne Sampson, chairwoman of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting, said the document is a welcome resource for local Scout troop leaders and parents.
“It’s one thing to say, ‘This is what we believe,’ but now, how do you actually put it into practice,” she said. “There were questions out there, and I think that the question and answer will help.”
There are approximately 35 BSA programs in the diocese, some chartered by parishes and some by local Knights of Columbus councils. Liz Tingquist, director of diocesan youth ministry, said while the initial reaction to the BSA resolution generated some response from the field, these represented a very small percent of the statewide program.
Overall, she said, local reaction has been muted and participation does not appear to have been significantly affected, particularly since Church leaders declared the program still aligned with Catholic teaching.
“I did field some phone calls with people being concerned if (Scouting) wasn’t going to be supported by the Church,” she said. “But from the very beginning, (Bishop Anthony B. Taylor) said, we need to wait and see what the NCCS had to say.”
Both Sampson and Tingquist said media coverage given to the original resolution generated an understandable knee-jerk reaction. After that, however, people started to look at the resolution more carefully. Tingquist said those who took the time to prayerfully read the policy realized it didn’t go as far as early media reports may have implied. No change was made to membership guidelines restricting “open or avowed” homosexual adults from being employees or volunteers and youth members’ moral code against sexual activity of any kind was reiterated.
A sampling of Scout leaders and clergy reported very little discussion about the matter.
“The reaction is simple, there has been nothing,” said Mike Miskin, who coordinates the Scouting program at Christ the King Church in Little Rock. “There has been no concern brought to me by parents or volunteers.”
Father Andrew Smith, pastor of St. Jude Church in Jacksonville, said questions were raised in May, but he left no doubt as to the immediate fate of the parish’s longtime Scouting program, chartered through the local Knights of Columbus council.
“The troop leaders asked if (the resolution) meant we would be backing out of Scouting,” Father Smith said. “I said no and in fact we would be even more supportive of troops that might need help or facilities over this. This is in support of our young people. This is a good program, and it’s something that our parish has supported for a long time.”
In a June statement, Bishop David J. Malloy of the Diocese of Rockford, Ill., wrote, “The Catholic Church teaches that those who experience same-sex attraction are always to be treated with dignity and respect.
“The teaching of the Catholic Church regarding moral behavior for all persons outside the marital state remains the same. In addition, the policy of the Boy Scouts of America states ‘Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether homosexual, or heterosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting.’ This tenet of the Boy Scouts of America is not incompatible with the Church’s teaching.”
“We need to stress that Church teaching says that the homosexual inclination and attraction itself is not immoral, but what is immoral is any sexual conduct outside marriage,” said Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone, U.S. council of Catholic bishops’ liaison to NCCS, in a May 31 article in The Catholic Miscellany. “The Church states that everybody is called to live a chaste life.”
Seventy percent of BSA’s 100,000 chartered units are sponsored by faith-based groups, nearly 8,400 of which are Catholic.
Sampson, the mother of an Eagle Scout, agreed with the bishop’s point on the value of the organization and said that it is because Scouting is held in such esteem in Arkansas Catholic families that the initial concern was what it was.
“That’s one of the first things people say, ‘I was a Boy Scout growing up,’ or, as with my son, ‘Yeah, my grandpa used to tell stories about when he was a Boy Scout,’” she said. “It is really dear to them, a tradition.”
