Forming leaders cited as key reason church backs Boy Scouts

Published: 2004-05-13

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- The church has supported the Boy Scouts since the program's inception in 1910 and will continue to do so because of the group's commitment to developing and forming future leaders, said Edward Gargiulo, chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. Bringing the next generation along is the job of the Boy Scouts, he said, calling the organization the "largest voluntary, values-based education program in the United States." Gargiulo, a mechanical engineer from Wilmington, Del., is finishing a three-year term as chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. He was in St. Louis for the committee's 38th biennial conference April 19-24. The committee is a liaison between the U.S. bishops and the Boy Scouts of America. About 250 people, including the committee's adviser, Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger of Evansville, Ind., and about 40 priests, attended the meeting. The committee represents approximately 9,700 Boy Scout units and their 330,000 members. It helps train some 127,000 adults who work with the young people.

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