Kansas City Archdiocese Cites 'Disturbing Content' in Break with Girl Scouts
The Archdiocese of Kansas City has ended it's relationship with Girl Scouts of America and will instead align with the American Heritage Girls, a "Christ-centered leadership, and development ministry."
It's the seventh Catholic diocese or archdiocese to strongly encourage local parishes to support or create American Heritage Girl troops.
American Heritage Girl founder and National Executive Director Patti Garibay told CBN News "this is probably the strongest statement" to date.
The Kansas City archdiocese says it studied Girl Scouts, both nationally and internationally for years and spent "hundreds of hours" with Girl Scout representatives, parents and pastors discussing "disturbing content" in their materials.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann said in a statement that because Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) promotes "many of the troubling trends in our secular culture" in its program and materials "they are no longer a compatible partner in helping us form young women with the virtues and values of the Gospel."
Naumann cited the millions that the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGS) gives to International Planned Parenthood to advocate for contraception and abortion as one concern.
He also noted that Girl Scout materials frequently promote Margaret Sanger, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem as role models. Sanger is the founder of Planned Parenthood and critics like Dr. Alveda King consider her a racist eugenics promoter. Friedan and Steinem are also known for their work as abortion-rights activists.
Naumann lauded American Heritage Girls as a Christian program that's a "better fit" for the Kansas City parishes adding "we prefer to partner with youth organizations that share our values and vision for youth ministry, not ones that we have to monitor constantly to protect our children from being misled and misinformed."
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops studied Girl Scout curriculum in 2013 and 2014, exploring many of the same issues that Naumann raised. It concluded saying that local dioceses and archdioceses should be the ones to decide whether or not to work with Girl Scouts.
