While Boy Scouts of America units will no longer be able to meet at or be chartered by Catholic parishes or organizations in Hawaii, award ceremonies like this 2023 one recognizing religious emblems Scouts have earned, will still take place. (HCH File Photo)
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Starting in January 2024, Hawaii Catholic parishes will no longer be allowed to host Boy Scout groups.
The decision was made by the Diocese of Honolulu in light of the scouting program’s bankruptcy after a wave of sex-abuse claims against those affiliated with the scouts.
“It is important that we continue to minister to our youth in various ways, but continuing our longstanding relationship with BSA has become more of a liability than we judge it prudent to bear,” according to a January letter by Bishop Larry Silva.
BSA is the abbreviation used to refer to Boy Scouts of America, which reorganized and began welcoming girls as members in 2017. Scouts BSA is the newer term for the older scouting program for 11-17-year-olds.
“The Diocese of Honolulu has been blessed for many years with a Catholic Scouting presence through the Boy Scouts of America (BSA),” Bishop Silva also wrote in his letter announcing the change. “Many of our parishes and schools have had a relationship with the scouts — through the Knights of Columbus, and most recently through a direct charter with our parishes and schools.”
“In 2020, BSA filed bankruptcy amid mounting claims of Scouting-related sex abuse. Recently, BSA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops General Counsel (USCCB) have been working to establish new agreements which would enable us to continue relationships.”
“Unfortunately, given the liability issues and our dissatisfaction with the BSA’s cooperation on the issue, we will no longer allow parishes and parish schools to charter a BSA unit, nor will BSA units be allowed to meet in our facilities.”
The bishop said that each U.S. diocese made its own decision about whether to keep sponsoring Boy Scouts. Other dioceses have also decided to no longer allow its parishes to charter or sponsor a troop or pack. Some still allow facility usage but no chartering. And some have not changed their policies on the matter.
Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry director Lisa Gomes estimates there are about 10 Catholic-sponsored Scouts BSA groups in Hawaii. These will have to get a new chartering organization and a place to meet as of Jan. 1, 2024. The diocese gave a year’s notice for the restructuring.
Gomes said that there hasn’t been much feedback from Boy Scout units in response to the bishop’s memo other than asking clarifying questions.
“A couple have said that they are in the process of looking for a new organization to charter with,” Gomes said. She had also heard of one potential merger of two current parish units.
The changes only affect Scouts BSA groups not any Girl Scout, American Heritage Girl or Trail Life USA groups that might use local Catholic facilities.
The Diocese of Honolulu’s Catholic Committee on Scouting (DHCCS) will continue to promote earning religious emblems and hosting Catholic activities like the Annual Scout Mass that recognizes those who have earned Catholic awards.
In April 2023, Boy Scouts of America emerged from bankruptcy and started a $2.4 billion fund for those of its members who were victims of sexual abuse. There were an estimated 82,500 claims since the bankruptcy.
The Aloha Council, which runs Boy Scouts of America in Hawaii, Guam and America Samoa, deferred any comment on the end of Catholic-sponsored BSA groups in Hawaii to its national headquarters, which had not responded by the time this story went to print.
