Highest religious scouting emblems given to Utahns

Intermountain Catholic

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Brent Uberty served as the cross bearer during the annual diocesan Scout Religious Emblems Ceremony. IC photo by Marie Mischel

SALT LAKE CITY — The highest religious awards in scouting were presented to a 17-year-old Eagle Scout and two adults during the annual diocesan Scout Religious Emblems Ceremony on March 6.

Brent Uberty, a member of Saint John the Baptist Parish, earned the Pope Pius XII emblem, which explores church-related ministries and vocations. Comparatively few scouts earn this emblem; Uberty is the first Utahn in several years to receive it.

Patrick Gotti and Gary Benedetti were presented with the St. George emblem, which is give to "members of the laity and clergy, Scouters and non-Scouters alike, who have made significant and outstanding contributions to the spiritual development of Catholic youth in Scouting," according to www.scouting.org.

In addition, four members of the Dennis family from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Magna received emblems at the ceremony. Christin and Katherine Dennis of Unit 771 received their I Live My Faith emblem, which is intended to teach them "to appreciate more deeply the place that God and religion occupy in their daily life," according to the scouting website.

Their brothers, Austin and Coltin Dennis of Unit 1558, received the Ad Altare Dei emblem, which "helps Roman Catholic Boy Scouts develop a fully Christian way of life in the faith community," according to the website.

Denise Dennis, the scouts’ mother, said the children motivated each other to work on the emblems, but "I really push them because it’s an honor to represent the parish."

Uberty, an altar server and active youth group member, is a junior at Skyline High School, where he is active in the theater department as a stage technician. He earned his Eagle award when he was 14. "My scouting is a major part of my life," he said. "I try to live the scout motto every day. I firmly believe that it makes good individuals."

When he first looked at the requirements for the Pope Pius XII emblem, he thought he was going to breeze through it, he said, "but that was 18 months ago. The more I got into it the more I realized this is going to be a challenge. It really makes you think about how you want to continue living your faith past high school and past the age you are now."

Uberty is a vice president of the scout’s Venturing Training program, which concentrates on high-adventure activities for youth of both sexes between the ages of 14 and 21. He’s working to form more Venture scout crews in Utah. Although most members of the crew are young men, each group tends to have a couple of young women as well. "They love it because it gives them the opportunity to go camping and go rock climbing and do things they don’t usually get to do," Uberty said.