by Seth Gonzalez

GRAPEVINE, Texas (CNS) – The Boy Scouts of America’s National Council voted late May 23 to allow openly gay youths admittance as members into the 103-year-old organization, effective Jan. 1, 2014.

In a statement, the organization said the decision to review the organization’s ban on accepting homosexuals as members was made based on “growing input from within the Scouting family.”

“Today, following this review, the most comprehensive listening exercise in Scouting’s history, the approximate 1,400 voting members of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Council approved a resolution to remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone,” the statement said.

The announcement was made at the Boy Scouts of America’s annual national meeting, held at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine. The organization said it did not reconsider its ban on homosexual adults as Scout leaders and that the policy remains in place.

“The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive and unresolved societal issue,” the statement added. “As the National Executive Committee just completed a lengthy review process, there are no plans for further review on this matter.”

The announcement of the policy change comes amid intense debate about the role of homosexuals in the Boy Scouts of America.

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting (NCCS) said that since the policy change does not take effect until next January, it will have “adequate time to study its effects.”

“The NCCS will determine how it may impact Catholic chartered Scout units and activities. In doing so, we will work within the teachings of our Catholic faith and with the various local bishops and their diocesan Scouting committees,” the Catholic organization said in a statement.

The Catholic Church teaches that people “who experience a homosexual inclination or a same-sex attraction are to be treated with respect recognizing the dignity of all persons,” the statement said.

“The church’s teaching is clear that engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage is immoral,” it continued. “Individuals who are open and avowed homosexuals promoting and engaging in homosexual conduct are not living lives consistent with Catholic teaching.”

In a separate statement, the Washington Archdiocese said the Boy Scouts of America policy change “does not affect the teachings of the Catholic Church and the manner in which the Archdiocese of Washington conducts the Scouting programs under its purview.”

“Scouting programs seek to instill the importance of duty to God and to country, and groups chartered through the Catholic Church witness to the faith while continuing to provide an opportunity to involve youth in the life of the local parish,” it said in a statement.

“The church, through its clergy and lay leaders, has the responsibility to teach the Gospel and encourage all people to live out the teachings of Christ – regardless of their sexual preference,” it added.

The Denver Archdiocese in a statement said that the Catholic Church “agrees that no group should reduce a person to their sexual orientation or proclivity. However, the moral formation of youth must include a firm commitment to respecting and promoting an authentic vision of sexuality rooted in the Gospel itself.”

“While the Archdiocese of Denver will continue to allow parish-chartered Scouting organizations,” it said, “we will be steadfast in articulating a Christian understanding of human dignity and sexuality.”

At a news conference in Grapevine, John Stemberger, founder of OnMyHonor.Net, said that “on this day, the most influential youth program in America has turned a very tragic corner.” His organization is a nationwide coalition of parents, Scout leaders, Scouting donors, Eagle Scouts and other members of the Boy Scouts.

“The Boy Scouts of America has a certain logo and it has this phrase ‘Timeless Values.’ Today the BSA can no longer, in good faith, use this phrase,” he said. “It has demonstrated by its actions that the organization’s values are, in fact, not timeless. Instead, they are governed by the changing winds of polls, politics and public opinion.”