Young people earn religious emblems at annual scouting Mass

Detroit — Do Catholics make for good scouts, or does scouting develop good Catholics?

Either way, there were plenty of both at the annual recognition Mass for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp Fire and American Heritage Girls on March 6 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The Mass, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda, highlighted the connection between the Catholic Church and scouting, promoting the values the two share in developing the minds and souls of young people across southeast Michigan.

“Today we come together to give thanks to God and celebrate our Boy and Girls Scouts, Campfire Scouts and American Heritage Girls,” Bishop Cepeda said during his homily. “We take great means to celebrate our faith and hear the call to action to be of service to others.”

Bishop Cepeda revealed that he and his siblings were scouts, and that scouting taught them to look out for one another.

“When I was 10 years old, I broke my leg playing soccer,” the bishop said. “With a leg in a cast, it was Sunday and I stayed at home when the family went to Mass. My sister got back from church and asked if I needed anything. I was shocked, worried. ‘You serious?’ I asked. My sister said, ‘You’re my brother, and I’m a Girl Scout; we help others.’”

After the Mass, scouts and troops received medals and awards for achieving milestones in their spiritual journey while contributing to the greater community.

“Every medal has a set of requirements, especially for the older scouts,” said John Savage, coordinator the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Catholic Youth Organization Spiritual Scouting program. “A good component of the medals is community service, but they also are meant to guide scouts along a relationship with God.”

Savage has been involved in Spiritual Scouting for most of his adult life, and said he believes the character instilled in scouts goes hand in hand with Catholic social teaching on being responsible, active citizens.

“You can’t be a good scout without having a faith,” Savage said. “Scouting itself is non-sectarian, but its founders said you can’t have scouting without faith; they just didn’t set a faith. The relationship with the Catholic Church and scouting goes way back. In scouting in general, you see all kinds of times where scouts see a need and step up.”

In addition to medals for scouts and troops, adults active in scouting received awards during the Mass.



Denise Dalrymple, CEO of Girls Scouts of Southeastern Michigan, was one of the recipients of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award for her work to improve and strengthen the relationship and understanding between Girls Scouts and the Archdiocese of Detroit.

In 2010, Dalrymple started a dialogue with the archdiocese after several instances arose causing some parents to question the moral integrity of Girls Scouts and whether it was appropriate for the archdiocese to have a relationship with the organization.

Dalrymple’s help in forming the Religious Relationship Committee was credited with helping address misunderstandings regarding the organization’s positions and policies, and to deal with problems that might have existed between Girl Scouts and the Church.

“It’s very important that people understand we’re in good standing with the Catholic Church,” Dalrymple said. “And for scouts to realize expressing their faith in public is OK, that it’s not uncool. The principles of scouting support the principles of religion. If you look at the 10 Commandments, they’re in direct relationship with our law. The foundation of Girl Scouts is spiritual, and it always has been spiritual.”

Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan encourages girls of all faiths to develop their faith lives through spiritual medals, with specific Catholic medals based on the group’s PRAY curriculum, which features mentors that have gone through training with the Archdiocese of Detroit.

For example, medals are given to scouts who exhibit “an understanding of Mary as a model of openness and spirituality,” as well as scouts who “discover how the Holy Spirit moves in their lives” through greater participation in Church ministry. For boys, medals include the “Light of Christ” medal, which helps young scouts “come to see Jesus as a real person and his friend” and the “Ad Altare Dei” medal, which encourages scouts to “develop a fully Christian way of life in the faith community.”

Dalrymple said many of the misunderstandings about the local scouting chapter have been addressed — such as possible links to groups that advocate positions or policies contrary to Church teaching, or the relationship between Girl Scouts USA and the international Girl Scout organization, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts — but that the organization is more than willing to discuss any concern parishes and parents might have.