Citing concerns about the Girl Scouts' support for transgender and homosexual rights, St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson cautioned church members against picking up a box of their cookies, The New York Times reports.
In an open letter published on the archdiocese's website, Archbishop Carlson told pastors to find alternatives to Girl Scouts meeting on parish land, and he disbanded the archdiocese's Catholic Committee on Girl Scouts, which sponsored Catholic programs for the girls.
"Girl Scouts is exhibiting a troubling pattern of behavior and it is clear to me that as they move in the ways of the world it is becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values," the archbishop wrote.
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Yes — but what about Girl Scout cookies? The archdiocese addressed the scrumptious Scout staple in a Q&A, telling Catholics that "each person must act in accord with their conscience." The website further stated that, "We echo the statement of Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, that it is important not to debate these issues with individual girls who are selling cookies. These conversations must 'remain among adults.'"
The Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri chapter chief executive Bonnie Barczykowski responded to the archbishop by saying that while she valued the church's nearly 100-year relationship with the Girl Scouts, she thought the concerns "misrepresent how Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri serves girls in our community."
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