Archdiocese of Cincinnati Cutting Ties with Girl Scouts Over Sexual and Gender Ideology
The archbishop says the Scouts advocate ideas the Church considers "false and harmful."
By Gary Gately
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati says it’s severing its 110-year relationship with the Girl Scouts over the organization’s “normalizing a sexual and gender ideology” incompatible with Catholic teachings.
In a letter to the archdiocese’s estimated 450,000 Catholics on Monday, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr wrote: “Unfortunately, in recent years, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has embraced and promoted an impoverished worldview regarding gender and sexuality.”
Shnurr added that through activities, badges and awards, the Girl Scouts had promoted gender ideology — sometimes called gender theory, which refers to the idea that one’s gender can be changed. That runs “contrary to the Catholic understanding of the human person made male and female in the image and likeness of God,” the archbishop wrote.
“Our greatest responsibility as the Catholic Church is fidelity to the Gospel and sharing the saving mission of Christ,” the letter continued. “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 Archdiocese of Cincinnati cannot partner with an organization that, from its highest level, advocates ideas which the Church considers false and harmful.”
By the end of 2025, Schnurr said, no Girl Scout troops would be permitted in the archdiocese. In the meantime, no new Girl Scout troops may be established, and Girl Scouts may not be featured or promoted as an official ministry or extracurricular activity of any Catholic parish or school in the archdiocese.
Schnurr said the “difficult decision” came after “extensive research” into the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio and discussions with its leaders and top archdiocese officials.
For decades, Schnurr said, the Girl Scouts, a secular organization, had helped build “virtue, discipline and community” to create “responsible, well-rounded citizens” who live a life “congruent with the Gospel.”
“While this development is difficult to share, it does not diminish my profound respect and appreciation for the many Girl Scout leaders in our archdiocese who have faithfully served our youth,” he wrote. “Your mentorship has made a difference in the lives of many, and I am very grateful for your service.”
Schnurr encouraged parents to consider enrolling their daughters in American Heritage Girls, which he endorsed in August as the “preferred scouting option for girls” in the archdiocese. He said its mission — “building women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country” — is “consistent with that of Catholic youth ministry.”
“The Archdiocese of Cincinnati cannot partner with an organization that, from its highest level, advocates ideas which the Church considers false and harmful.” — Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr
Girl Scouts of Western Ohio said in a statement: “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. Girl Scouts of Western Ohio is — and always has been — a secular organization that welcomes girls of all faiths. Our membership includes girls and families of many faith traditions, and we believe that a part of girls’ healthy development is encouraging girls in their spiritual journey, through partnerships with their faith communities.”
Among “objectionable materials and promotions” in the Girl Scouts, the archdiocese cited:
A “social identity wheel” activity for Girl Scout cadettes (in the sixth, seventh or eighth grades) that encourages girls to identify in group conversations their sexual orientation (heterosexual or LGBTQ) and gender identity (boy, girl, gender non-binary, transgender, intersex or cisgender).
Encouragement of the use of terms and definitions from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. “Gender,” for example, is defined as “a social construction,” and “it is possible to reject or modify the assignment made and develop something that feels truer and just to oneself.”
Lists of recommended books promoting gender ideology, including “I am Jazz” by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthal, which says: “From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl’s brain in a boy’s body….”
Promotion of Phoebe Wall, a 2019 National Gold Award Girl Scout who founded “Glitterary,” a digital literary magazine for LGBTQ youth. The archdiocese says the magazine seeks to promote a “more accurate spectrum of gender and sexual identities.”
The U.S. Conference for Catholic Bishops says on its website that “diocesan bishops have the final authority over what is appropriate for Catholic scouting in their dioceses.” The USCCB cites scouting among “excellent opportunities for the Church to pass on the Gospel of Jesus Christ to children and youth through her life and rich tradition of faith, morals, leadership development, pastoral care, prayer and worship, and service.”
”Over the years,” the USCCB says, “the Catholic youth ministry community and scouting programs have enjoyed a shared mission and a collaborative relationship, one that continues to this day.”
Pope Francis has made outreach to LGBTQ Catholics a hallmark of his 11-year papacy and has often met with them, most recently on October 12, when he met privately with LGBTQ activists from the U.S.
They asked Francis to overturn the Catholic Church’s ban on gender-transition surgery, according to the Catholic LGBTQ advocacy organization New Ways Ministry, which helped organize the event and published the testimonies of those who attended.
Cynthia Herrick, an endocrinologist at a St. Louis, Missouri, clinic who took part in the papal meeting, told Reuters: “We expressed that as the church makes policies in this area that it’s very important to speak with transgender individuals. The pope was very receptive. He listened very empathetically. He also shared that he always wants to focus on the person, the well-being of the person.”
But in April, the Vatican condemned gender theory and sex-change surgery as “grave threats” to human dignity in a highly anticipated document signed by Pope Francis.
In the 20-page “Dignitas Infinita” (Infinite Dignity), five years in the making, the Vatican’s doctrinal office emphatically states that gender theory “intends to deny the greatest possible difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference.”
“Any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception” as an “irrevocable gift from God” and amounts to succumbing “to the age-old temptation to make oneself God,” the document states.