Posted on 02/19/2016 6:30:25 PM PST by Morgana
ST. LOUIS (ChurchMilitant.com) - The head of the St. Louis archdiocese is disbanding the Catholic Committee on Girl Scouts and cutting off ties to the youth organization.
In a letter issued Thursday, Abp. Robert J. Carlson set forth a number of concerns regarding the Girl Scouts and its parent organization, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Among its concerns is "WAGGGS' continued promotion of contraception and 'abortion rights' on behalf of its girl members, the majority of whom are minors."
The letter also notes worries over the Girl Scouts' promotion of radical feminist icons Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, as well as organizations it partners with that push anti-Catholic values, including Amnesty International (which calls abortion a "fundamental human right"), OxFam and others. The Girl Scouts' recent positions on welcoming active homosexuals and transgender youth are also cause for concern.
"We have been in dialogue with these groups and have voiced our concerns on numerous occasions," Abp. Carlson said, and we must be "mindful of whom we allow to teach and form our youth and the messages they present."
"Our primary obligation is to help our girls grow as women of God," he emphasized. Toward this end, he is directing parishes to conduct meetings with local Girl Scout troop leadership to discuss alternative youth programs more faithful to Catholic teaching.
"Effective immediately, I am disbanding the Catholic Committee on Girl Scouts and instead forming a Catholic Committee for Girls Formation that will be charged with ministry to all girls in various organizations."
Elizabeth Westhoff, Director of Marketing and Mission Awareness at the St. Louis archdiocese, spoke with ChurchMilitant.com and stressed Abp. Carlson's special concern for the youth in his archdiocese. "The archbishop started out as a youth minister," Westhoff said, "so youth programs are very important to him."
"Our role is to getting souls to Heaven," she continued, "and the archbishop takes that responsibility seriously."
For this reason, she explained, the archdiocese needs to ensure all its programs, for both boys and girls, are faithful and lead to an authentic expression of Catholicism.
Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute is praising Abp. Carlson for his decision. "God bless Abp. Carlson for taking the concerns of faithful Catholics seriously," he told ChurchMilitant.com. "As a true shepherd, he is chasing away wolves looking to corrupt and destroy the innocence of little girls within his fold."
"One of the most encouraging aspects of Abp. Carlson's decision is the formation of a Catholic Committee for Girls Formation, run by the archdiocese itself," he went on. "For far too long, Catholics have been content to outsource true formation to non-Catholic agencies. We hope that Abp. Carlson's decision serves as a model for dioceses across the country to put an end to the use of non-Catholic programs in favor of the use of truly Catholic ones."
Read Abp. Carlson's letter here.
How did it take this long?
Good news.
I was a girl scout, but I will not have my girls be part of it. It’s just gotten worse and worse! American Heritage Girls has been fine. A bit too much on the “denim skirt” side of things for me to fit in personally, but totally acceptable.
About time.
Oh the irony that the Girl Scouts has become a haven for lesbians and militant feminists who push lesbianism and abortion.
And that’s just fine.
But which organization is under continued attack?
The Boy Scouts.
Not because they are a haven of pedophiles and child molesters, but because they stick to traditional morality.
And it’s ironic that the same liberal groups that condemn the Catholic church as a bunch of pedophiles are the same groups demanding that the Boy Scouts allow openly homosexual men to become scout leaders and take young boys on camping trips.
I stopped by Girl Scout cookies because of their leftist indoctrination. Well, that and the price gouging. Ever notice how the price of a box of their cookies goes up as they continually add cookie trays that are more space than cookies?
About time this Bishop woke up. What is wrong with these sleeping clerics?
They need to partner with American Heritage Girls, but there are other Christian Girl Scout alternatives, too.
Girl Scout Alternatives
http://hubpages.com/sports/Girl-Scout-Alternatives
About time!
May God bless Archbishop Carlson and grant him every success as he is a worthy successor to Raymond Cardinal Burke.
What does ‘on the denim skirt side of things’ mean?
My daughter, who is a first-grader in Catholic school, got a flyer about joining the American Heritage Girls.
Now that I think about it, I didn’t see any Girl Scouts selling cookies here in my South Carolina city. None at the grocery stores, Walmart, or at my door.
The left destroys everything they touch.
The silence by the Girl Scouts (in not supporting the Boy Scouts in their fight) was deafening, and said all we needed to know about Girl Scouts. A couple of representatives publicly stated they had no policy, and that was the end of that - they’ve allowed it for decades.
Scouting in general is dying out here in NJ; many troops have consolidated and some have sold their land. There are less Americans in NJ with every passing day, and those remaining are increasingly paranoid (with some justification) about leaving their children in the care of unrelated adults.
What we now know, that wasn’t so clear decades ago, is that child molesters/perverts look for positions that give them easy access to victims: Scout leaders, coaches, teachers, religious leaders, etc.
Oh boy, go to a homeschool convention and watch all the females who are wearing long, denim skirts. You’ll figure out what the “long denim skirt” subculture is. I have no problem with it, but it’s not for me, and I sure don’t fit in with it.
Has the pope heard about this yet and put a stop to it?
What do you have a problem with, the “long,” “denim” or “skirt” part? We’re really baffled here.
I don’t have a problem with any of it. Click on what I was replying to, and so on.
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