USA - Boy Scouts - New homosexual acceptance triggers friction over troop sponsorship

How Scouts incite Catholic culture war

By Anne Hendershott

The decision by the Boy Scouts to include homosexual Scout members has opened a new front in the Catholic culture wars as increasing numbers of Catholic pastors are withdrawing their support for parish-based Boy Scout troops, while progressive Catholic organizations and newspapers are describing the pastors’ decisions as “bigoted.” This is not a small issue as Catholic churches sponsor about 10 percent of all Scout troops in the country. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops even has an official episcopal liaison to the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.

The latest battle began when the Rev. Derek Lappe, pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Bremerton, Wash., posted a letter to parishioners on the parish website May 26 that criticized the new Boy Scout policy of including openly gay Scouts. In his letter, Father Lappe advised parishioners of his intention to “part ways” with the Boy Scouts, saying that he did not believe it is “possible for us to live out and to teach the authentic truth about human sexuality within the confines of the Boy Scout’s new policy.”

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