Scouts honored during religious emblem ceremony

IC photo/Linda Petersen

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Local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts wait to receive their religious emblems in a Scout Saturday ceremony at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

SALT LAKE CITY —Youth from across the diocese who are involved in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts celebrated Scout Saturday on March 2 and received their earned religious emblems in a special ceremony at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Bishop Oscar A. Solis welcomed the scouts and their family members and thanked them for being good models of service to those around them. He also thanked their parents for being an example to them and for encouraging “the light of service, the light of love” in their children.

Cub Scouts (age 6-7) Jackson Arlie, Evan Dodge, Gabriel Kieber-Emmons, Isaac Kieber-Emmons, Ephraim Moreno-Castaneda, Dean Oppedisano and Calvin Simon earned the Light of Christ award.

In Cub/Webelo Scouts (ages 8-10), Cristian Becerra, Michael Galarus, Jordan Harris, Joshua Kelley, Xavier Kieber-Emmons, Risto Kurlich, Brody Meehan, Joseph Oppedisano, Beau Simon and Samuel Smith earned the Parvuli Dei award.

In Boy/Venturing Scouts (15 years and older), David Bouley, Riley Crezee, Ronald Magalong and Eleanor Bouley received the Pope Pius XII award. Eleanor Bouley is the first female scout in Utah to receive this award.

In Girl Scouts, Catie Clagg, Katelyn Espinosa and Annalise Gomez (grade 2-3) received the Family of God award. Emma Perez (grade 4-5) earned the I Live my Faith award and Caroline Bouley (grade 9-10) received the Spirit Alive award.

David Bouley and Caroline Bouley received the “Pillar of Faith - Duty to God”(Boy Scouts) and the “Pillar of Faith - Service to God” (Girl Scouts) awards respectively. These special awards are given to those Boy and Girl Scouts who have earned all four religious awards from their sponsoring organizations.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time these have been earned in the diocese,” Religious Emblems Representative Joe Bouley said.

Not all of the youth who earned their awards were able to attend the ceremony.

Several adults also received awards: Bishop Solis, Fr. Ken Vialpando, Denovan Lino, Heather Smith, Joe Bowden, Bryan Penn, Daniel Benfield, Liz Magalong, Junuee Castro, Veronica King and Wendy Burgun were honored with the Bronze Pelican award for their contributions to scouting in the diocese.  

“Scouting is a form of youth ministry,” said Nancy Reading, Diocesan Committee on Catholic Scouting chair. “As part of the scout oath we have, first, a duty to God. The oath goes on to promote service and the Catholic scouting program helps provide the kids with their place in their faith.”

“Scout Saturday is my favorite day of the year on my scouting calendar,” she said.  “It reminds me that there are amazing young men and women who are willing to reach out beyond themselves to earn these emblems.”

The diocese has 20 Catholic-chartered Boy Scout troops, with a total of 522 scouts and 186 adults.  A number of Catholic girls participate in Girl Scouts of Utah troops.