<p class=rtecenter><b><br /> &ldquo;These are exactly the type of young women needed in the Church today.&rdquo;</b></p> <p>May 15 2012. As Catholic organizations we congratulate the Girl Scouts on their 100^th year anniversary and thank them for modeling the best of what girls can be: strong bold value-based young women. What a shame that Catholic officials cannot see these young women for the gift they are to the church and world.</p> <!--break--> <p>The Bishops&rsquo; attempt to exert pressure on the Girl Scouts is the most recent episode in an increasingly troubling sequence of attacks against women and girls both inside and outside the Church. From the hierarchy&rsquo;s mandate against the nuns to its most recent heavy-handed inquiry into the Girl Scouts the Bishops&rsquo; actions not only reveal the growing gap between the hierarchy and the faithful but also sends harmful messages about womanhood to our daughters in faith. We urge the Bishops to cease the investigations.</p> <p>As Catholic organizations that seek a more just and inclusive church we stand in solidarity with the 59 million women and girls who have been a part of the Girl Scouts. We thank these women and girls&mdash;our sisters&mdash; for their witness of what it means to be a woman who knows her own giftedness in the face of a religion or society that too often undervalues her self-worth.</p> <p>We invite those who would like to thank the Girl Scouts for their contribution to the church and society to join us in our Twitter campaign #GodLovesTheGirlScouts.</p> <p>The Girl Scouts mission states that it &ldquo;builds girls of courage confidence and character&rdquo; and for that we are grateful. These are exactly the type of young women needed in the Church today: those who know their self-worth goes beyond that which is measured by the Bishops&rsquo; investigation but that is rooted in the simple fact that they are beloved children of God.</p> <p>This statement is signed and supported by the following Catholic organizations:</p> <p>Jim FitzGerald Executive Director<br /> Call To Action</p> <p>Jon O&rsquo;Brien Executive Director<br /> Catholics for Choice</p> <p>Allen and Sylvia Moore Co-Presidents<br /> CORPUS</p> <p>Marianne Duddy-Burke Executive Director<br /> DignityUSA</p> <p>Anne Harter Coordinator<br /> Faithful of Southern Illinois</p> <p>Tom Quinn Liaison<br /> Federation of Christian Ministries Roman Catholic Faith Community Council</p> <p>Ruth Steinert Foote<br /> Greater Cincinnati Women-Church</p> <p>Jeannine Gramick and Donna Quinn Co-Coordinators<br /> National Coalition of American Nuns</p> <p>Francis DeBernardo Director<br /> New Ways Ministry</p> <p>Gloria Ulterino<br /> RAPPORT</p> <p>Suzanne Thiel President<br /> Roman Catholic Womenpriests USA</p> <p>Karen Schwarz<br /> San Francisco Bay Area Women-Church</p> <p>Regina Bannan President<br /> Southeastern Pennsylvania Women&rsquo;s Ordination Conference</p> <p>Mary Hunt and Diann Neu Co-Directors<br /> Women&rsquo;s Alliance for Theology Ethics and Ritual</p> <p>Erma Durkin<br /> Women-Church Baltimore</p> <p>Erin Saiz Hanna Executive Director<br /> Women&rsquo;s Ordination Conference</p>