CNA Staff, Aug 29, 2024 / 06:00 am
Amid the culture wars, one girl scouting group endorsed by an archbishop this month is staying “true to its founding Christian principles” while creating space to help Catholic girls grow in faith.
Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati “wholeheartedly” endorsed the faith-based scouting group American Heritage Girls (AHG) in an Aug. 8 letter to local priests, where he encouraged parishes to consider chartering with the group.
“AHG is openly Christ-centered and dedicated to helping girls respond to God’s call to grow in purity, service, stewardship, and integrity,” Schnurr noted. “Moreover, AHG expressly believes that every person is made in the image of God.”
AHG is interdenominational but is intentional about supporting Catholic girls in their faith. A quarter of AHG troops are at Catholic parishes or schools with activities ranging from troop-led Stations of the Cross to Eucharistic Revival patches.
“The AHG ministry program is designed to create a nurturing environment where girls can grow in their identity in Christ,” explained Julie Goodwin, the national Catholic relations specialist for AHG.
“Much like parish youth groups enrich the faith lives of all who attend, AHG is dedicated to raising up a generation of girls who strive for sainthood,” she said.
Founded in the 1990s by a group of parents who wanted a Christ-centered scouting group, AHG now boasts more than 50,000 members in every state and across 15 countries. The scouting group is dedicated to serving God, family, and community while members and leaders pledge to a statement of faith that highlights integrity, purity, service, and stewardship.
“It is an honor and a privilege to come alongside the families of parishes of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,” Patti Garibay, founder and executive director of AHG, told CNA.
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Garibay has led the organization since its small beginning to its great expansion, meeting with former vice president Mike Pence in 2017 and detailing the scouting group’s story in her 2020 book “Why Curse the Darkness When You Can Light a Candle?”
Garibay voiced her “gratitude” to the Cincinnati archbishop “for his courage and discernment” in aligning with American Heritage girls.
Schnurr noted that AHG has “stayed true to its founding Christian principles” in his endorsement.
“Scouting is fundamentally good — it builds virtue, discipline, and community. It helps form responsible, well-rounded citizens,” Schnurr said in his letter. “Scouting has a strong, multigenerational heritage in our country, one associated with positive values and memories.”
AHG has programs for girls ages 5 to 18 that emphasize faith, leadership, outdoors, citizenship, and other life skills. Its program levels include the “Pathfinder,” “Tenderheart,” “Explorer,” “Pioneer,” and “Patriot.”
The scouting program also includes a badge program with six “frontiers”: heritage, personal well-being, family living, arts, science and technology, and outdoor skills.
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“When done correctly, scouting can be an efficacious part of Catholic youth ministry, espousing a way of life congruent with the Gospel,” Schnurr noted.
“Unfortunately, in recent years, some scouting organizations have embraced and promoted an impoverished worldview regarding human life and sexuality,” Schnurr noted. “Through activities, badges, and awards, these organizations have contributed to normalizing a gender ideology devoid of Christian virtue and contrary to the Catholic understanding of the human person made in the image and likeness of God.”
AHG’s membership policy requires girls to agree to live according to the AHG Oath and AHG Creed, and invites all girls to join. The scouting group’s mission is “Building women of integrity through service to God, family, community, and country.”
“We often hear from youth ministers, parents, and troop volunteers that AHG girls are deeply engaged in parish life — they’re active in youth groups, eager to serve their communities, and setting a positive example for other young Catholics,” Goodwin said. “Through AHG, these girls are growing in virtue and developing a lasting faith foundation that continues to shape their biblical worldview well into adulthood.”
Sister Elizabeth Grace Donahue of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, an AHG alumna who received AHG’s highest honor, the Stars and Stripes Award, said that AHG serves families well.
“Through a balance of Bible teaching and life skills, the girls are growing more and more in the image of Christ,” she said in a statement shared with CNA. “The troop has blessed our Church in many ways as well.”
AHG also features a National Catholic Committee that elected Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, as the episcopal moderator in 2015. The committee “acts as a liaison” between the Catholic Church and the scouts by “promoting and providing for the growth and spiritual development of its Catholic members.”
The scouting organization has been endorsed by other Catholic leaders including Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, who, in 2017, authorized an archdiocesan transition from Girl Scouts to American Heritage Girls. AHG has also been endorsed by other Catholic dioceses and archdioceses including Birmingham, Alabama; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Fort Worth, Texas; Milwaukee; Omaha, Nebraska; Rockford, Illinois; and St. Louis.
