Scout’s Honor: Cardinal Recognized With Silver Buffalo Award

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Cardinal Dolan evoked memories of the lessons and friendships he experienced as a Boy Scout in his native St. Louis when he received the organization’s Silver Buffalo Award last week, saying he would treasure the award because of “from whom it comes, and who gives it.”

“The friendships I made there and the talents I learned have stayed with me to this day,” said the cardinal of his experiences as a Scout First Class in Troop 627 at his home parish of Holy Infant in Ballwin, Mo.

The honor, given for “noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth,” was presented in a ceremony at the cardinal’s residence in Manhattan May 20 by Robert Gates, national president of the Boys Scouts of America and a former U.S. secretary of defense and director of central intelligence.

Gates cited Cardinal Dolan for his 40 years of priestly and episcopal ministry “consistently focused on serving young people and the underprivileged.” He noted the cardinal’s “active leadership and support” for World Youth Day gatherings and, closer to home, the annual Scout Sunday Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Gates also said the cardinal’s service to scouting has been recognized by the International Catholic Conference of Scouting.

“I’ve heard about the Silver Buffalo Award for a long time, and now to have it, I am honored,” the cardinal said in his acceptance remarks.

The Church in the United States, which sponsors scouting units for nearly a quarter-million young people, sees the Scouts as a “virtue-driven organization” and “an ally” in ministry to youth, the cardinal said. He cited the Scouts for creating a space where it is possible to speak about God and religion, and faith is not treated as an “alien” concept.

“We live in a culture that is trying to drive religion to the periphery,” the cardinal said. “It’s at the heart of what we do.”

On a recent visit with his family in St. Louis, the cardinal said he enjoyed meeting with and saying thank you to the widow of his own youth scoutmaster.

Expressing his “deep gratitude for all the volunteers involved with the Boy Scouts of America,” the cardinal said those he knew as a boy were “amazingly faithful men” who looked at the time they spent in service to scouting as “not taking away from their family, but enhancing it.”

At the ceremony, Auxiliary Bishop John O’Hara, episcopal vicar for Staten Island and South, East and West Manhattan, delivered the invocation. Also present from the archdiocese were Auxiliary Bishop Dominick Lagonegro, episcopal vicar of Orange, Sullivan, Ulster and Rockland counties, and an Eagle Scout himself; Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities; and Edwin Broderick, director of CYO, which organizes Catholic scouting in the archdiocese.

A number of national and local officials of the Boy Scouts of America also attended, including Michael Surbaugh, the chief scout executive of the Boys Scouts of America.