More than 2,000 Catholic Scouts and leaders gathered for Mass during the Scouting America National Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia from July 26–30.
With 70% of Scouting units in the United States chartered by religious organizations, “faith is integral to who we are as an organization,” Michael Ramsey, chief marketing officer for Scouting America, told EWTN News.
“Our Scout Oath, that every Scout knows, starts off with, ‘On my honor, I will do my duty to God and my country.’”
“Faith is not just the motion that we go to. Faith is who we are as an organization,” he said.
As part of its National Boy Scouts Jamboree, Scouting America brought together thousands of Catholic Scouts for a Mass celebrated by Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, and Bishop Michael Fisher of Buffalo, New York.
The jamboree, which wrapped up on July 30, is a 10-day-long event that takes place every four years. It brings together more than 15,000 Scouts to camp and learn outdoor, conservation, and survival skills while meeting peers from across the nation.
The event, which was first held in 1937 around the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is now held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve.
“We actually took over a coal mine that had been abandoned in the ‘70s. And we reclaimed something that was an ugly scar on the earth … and turned it into heaven for Scouting,” Ramsey said.
At the camp are zip lines, rock climbing, skateboarding, and also a Sunday morning of worship.
Scouting America offers multiple worship services at the jamboree, the Catholic Mass being the largest.
At the recent Mass it “was absolutely stunning to see that many young people,” Ramsey reflected. “Theyʼre at camp, but they chose to be there. Almost 9,000 Scouts that were here, 2,000 of them came to Mass on Sunday morning. “
“Itʼs really a powerful testimony to faith in Scouting,” he said. “I donʼt know who else is running a Mass for 2,000 youth on Sunday morning. We like to think it was the biggest one in the country at that time, but itʼs such an important part of who we are.”
The jamboree also offers a number of other attractions.
“Weʼve got the second-largest zip line in the country at our property in West Virginia,” Ramsey said. “We have a skate park thatʼs the size of an aircraft carrier and some of the largest shooting ranges in the country.”
At the jamboree, there are also concerts, food trucks, booths, adventure activities, and opportunities for Scouts to earn merit badges.
“And youʼre with a bunch of scouts who are all living the ideals of the Scout Oath and Scout Law — to be trustworthy, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent,” he said.
The event brings “together scouts from all across the country,” Ramsey said. “They come in contingents from 228 of our local councils across the country.”
National Catholic Committee on Scouting
“Right now across the country, there are almost 131,000 Catholic Scouts across the country, which is a phenomenal number for us representing just shy of 200 dioceses, which we are very proud of.”
“The Catholic Church is the largest chartering organization that we work with in the whole country — by a fair amount. It is absolutely critical for us,” Ramsey said. “We actually have the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.”
The organization was recently renamed to Catholic Scouting America but has the same goal — to provide guidance and structure for the integration of Catholic teaching into Scouting America programs.
An organization officially related to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Scouting America is “made up of Catholic leaders that helped promote Scouting in the Catholic Church but also serve as a liaison with the leadership of the Catholic Church,” Ramsey said.
The organization even “signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Catholic Church about 18 months ago,” he said.
The MOU reported it reaffirms the organizations’ “shared values and outlines collaborative efforts to provide enriching and character-building opportunities for Catholic youth through Scouting.”
The MOU noted that the ties between the Catholic faith and Scouting in the United States are as old as the movement itself.
In 1910, the same year Scouting America was founded, one of the earliest known Catholic-chartered troops was established in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was quickly followed by the founding of a troop at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York in 1912.
“It was one of the earliest religious organizations to adopt Scouting in the U.S. Itʼs a long, proud history that we have with the Church,” Ramsey said. “We want to make sure that we reach every young person in the Catholic Church who wants to be involved in Scouting.”
