Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr announced the Archdiocese of Cincinnati would be ending its relationship with the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, due to their “impoverished worldview regarding gender and sexuality.”
In a letter published on Oct. 28 and shared with the roughly 500,000 Catholics in the region, Schnurr wrote that “Scouting can be an efficacious part of Catholic youth ministry, espousing a way of life congruent with the Gospel, as it has in our own archdiocese for decades.” However, according to Schnurr, the Girl Scouts organization has “contributed to normalizing a sexual and gender ideology contrary to the Catholic understanding of the human person made male and female in the image and likeness of God.”
The timetable to conclude the relationship will be over the next 14 months, wrote Schnurr, and by the end of 2025, every Girl Scout troop currently based on any Catholic campus in Greater Cincinnati is expected to convert to an American Heritage Girls troop, find another location to meet or disband.
According to the Girl Scouts website, a handful of local chapters operate in Catholic schools or parishes.
In response to this decision, Girl Scouts of Western Ohio released their own statement, saying, “We are deeply disappointed by this decision, as are thousands of Girl Scouts and dedicated volunteers across our council who value both their Catholic faith and the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.”
“In Girl Scouts, every girl belongs. No matter her economic, social, racial or religious background, every girl is welcome in Girl Scouts,” the statement adds.
Girls Scouts is a secular organization and does not publicly take a stand on controversial issues. On their website, in a section related to birth control, abortion and human sexuality, the group wrote, “Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) does not take a position or develop materials on these issues. We feel our role is to help girls develop self-confidence and good decision-making skills that will help them make wise choices in all areas of their lives.”
Decisions about a child’s participation in Girl Scouts programs requires the consent of their parents.
The organization also frequently collaborates with religious groups, writing, “We greatly value our longstanding partnership with religious organizations across many faiths that share the values of the Girl Scout Promise and Law.”
But this hasn’t stopped the Girl Scouts from promoting subjects their religious partners may disagree with. Alongside specialty patches and activities for Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month, the Scouts created a “LGBTQ+ Pride Month Celebration Fun Patch,” for June, to “honor LGBTQ+ history, to celebrate the diverse cultures and identities of LGBTQ+ people, and to acknowledge the many contributions of the LGBTQ+ community has made and continues to make across our nation,” according to the organization’s website.
The Pride Month patch encouraged girls to participate in activities and have conversations about LGBTQ+ identity, including:
- Sketching a portrait of a LGBTQ+ person from the past or present, and write about their contributions to the country.
- Learn about LGBTQ+ chefs or leaders in the food industry, their favorite dish, and try to make it.
- Attend a LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in June with your family or troop.
Pertaining to transgender girls joining Girl Scout troops, the Girl Scouts website states: “Placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis, with the welfare and best interests of the child and the members of the troop/group in question a top priority,” adding that, “if the child is recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe.”
The Girl Scouts of Western Ohio were a specific source of frustration for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The two groups signed a “Memorandum of Understanding,” which laid the ground rules for their relationship. The Girls Scouts were told to adhere to several rules, including “maintain regular, ongoing communications with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,” “respect the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church” and “recognize and honor the principle that religious instruction is the responsibility of parents and religious leaders,” among other things.
In return, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati agreed to participate in good faith when responding to grievances regarding church policy and maintain communication with the Girl Scouts of Ohio, along with other rules. After their Memorandum of Understanding expired in 2016, the archdiocese began investigating the chapter’s social media presence, and on their website have listed specific posts from the Girl Scouts that concern them. The posts included promoting Phoebe Hall, founder of Glitterary, a digital literary magazine for LGBTQ+ youth, and sharing information related to the LGBTQ+ Pride Month Fun patch.
In November 2023, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati requested that the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio “cease promotion of activities, resources, badges and awards repugnant to Catholic teaching.”
On Aug. 8, Schnurr endorsed American Heritage Girls, an explicitly Christian alternative to the Girl Scouts, writing “AHG is openly Christ-centered and dedicated to helping girls respond to God’s call to grow in purity, service, stewardship and integrity.”
Founded in 1995, Heritage Girls has a statement of faith that all adult members must follow. It is centered around four categories: Purity, Service, Stewardship and Integrity. In the “Purity,” section it states: “We are to reserve sexual activity to the sanctity of marriage; a lifelong commitment before God between a man and a woman.”
On the organization’s website, which features extracts from their podcast, Raising Godly Girls, one episode is titled “Equipping Your Girl Against Cultural Witchcraft This Halloween.” In the description, Heritage Girls states: “Join us as we explore how witchcraft, once considered fringe or fictional, is now being normalized in popular culture, drawing in girls from all walks of life.”
Archbishop Schnurr reiterated his support for AHG, and his commitment to youth programs instilled with Christian values, in his letter on Oct. 28.
“Our greatest responsibility as the Catholic Church is fidelity to the Gospel and sharing the saving mission of Christ. It is therefore essential that all youth programs at our parishes and schools affirm virtues and values consistent with the teaching of Jesus Christ.”
The Girl Scouts of Western Ohio also reaffirmed their position on the subject.
“Our focus now is to support our Girl Scouts and dedicated volunteers of the Catholic faith in finding ways to continue their Girl Scout experience – including the ways in which Girl Scouts learn about and explore their faith traditions. Girl Scouts, guided by caring adult leaders, and always with agreement of their parents or guardians, decide which activities to pursue each membership year — all based on individual and troop interests.”
This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2024.