The National Catholic Committee on Scouting says the new policy of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to accept members based on their gender identity rather than biological gender will have no impact on scouting units sponsored by the Catholic Church.

The Catholic News Service is reporting on a February 4 statement by the Catholic Scouting committee which was signed by George S. Sparks, national chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting and Father Kevin M. Smith, who is the national chaplain of Catholic Scouting.

“Scouting serves the Catholic Church through the charter concept, which is similar to a franchise,” the statement reads. “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.”

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.”

This is significant because about 70 percent of Boy Scout troops are run by faith-based groups.

How the new policy will play out in real life remains to be seen. When announcing the new policy on January 30, BSA Chief Scouting Executive Michael Surbaugh said that the club will “continue to thoughtfully evaluate to bring the benefits of Scouting to the greatest number of youth possible – all while remaining true to our core values, outlines in the Scout Oath and Law.”

The Oath taken by each boy clearly states that “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country . . .”

In a statement by the Archdiocese of St. Louis the day after this announcement, diocesan spokesman Gabe Jones said that they were “deeply saddened and disturbed by the decision of Boy Scouts of America to allow girls struggling with gender dysphoria into their troops.

“For more than a century, Boy Scouts has been an organization dedicated to honor, service, and ‘duty to God.’ However, it is impossible to speak of a scout’s ’duty to God’ while at the same time failing to recognize the fundamental order of God’s creation.

The statement goes on to explain: “The fact is that human beings are born with a sexual identity and not merely a “gender identity” of one’s choosing. This sexual identity affects the totality of the person in the unity of his or her body and soul, and it greatly affects one’s capacity to love and be loved.”

For this reason, “the archdiocese remains committed to Catholic teaching on gender identity that is rooted in Scripture, tradition, and the natural law.”

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