But thousands of boy scouts say they were preyed upon by the scoutmasters who were supposed to be their role models—and that Boy Scouts leadership long covered up their crimes.

Time has confirmed that approximately 92,700 people have now filed sex abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America ahead of the Nov. 16 deadline set to demand damages from the organization.

The Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy in February under the mounting financial strain of sex abuse lawsuits.

Under the Chapter 11 filing, the organization will reorganize and establish a victims' compensation fund.

A judge set the Nov. 16 deadline to allow alleged victims a final opportunity to file claims.

Time reported last year that hundreds of men and boys were coming forward for the first time with accounts of rape and assault suffered as children at the hands of scoutmasters.

The number of victims has since ballooned into the tens of thousands, in a moment reminiscent of the slew of abuse claims levied against the Catholic Church.

"Sadly there was an unspoken norm that sexual abuse of children would occur in the Boy Scouts," Andrew van Arsdale, one of the attorneys representing the people alleging abuse, said in a statement to Time.

"Based on what we are hearing from survivors, sexual abuse was a rite of passage in troops across the country, similar to other tasks where children had to do perform certain duties to earn their coveted merit badges."

The Boy Scouts of America said in a statement to Time, "We are devastated by the number of lives impacted by past abuse in scouting and moved by the bravery of those who came forward."

They added that they are working to protect current scouts.

"Over many years, we have developed some of the strongest youth protection policies found in any youth-serving organization, which are informed by respected experts in the fields of child safety, law enforcement, and child psychology."

For the tens of thousands of people who say they were abused as scouts, the November deadline was the last opportunity to file a claim against the organization—and see justice done.

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Some Catholic dioceses have stated that they will continue to sponsor Scouting groups under the new policy.

Other dioceses, and the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, have reserved judgment until after the January 1 implementation of the policy, so they can better understand how Catholic-sponsored groups will be affected.

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Of the 100,000 Scout units across the nation, 37,882 are Mormon, 11,078 are Methodist and 8570 are Catholic. And the organisation still includes "my duty to God" in its oath.

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting has expressed its objections to the proposed change and urged Catholics who participate in Scouting to voice their opposition to local Scout councils.

According to Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee, the Scouts are "wilting under pressure from some of their corporate sponsors".

The Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy organisation, has warned corporate sponsors it would downgrade their "non-discrimination ratings" if they continued to give money to the Scouts.

Already some of the largest donors — Intel, Merck and UPS — have stopped giving.

The proposal, to be voted on in late May, would allow membership to openly gay youth, but retain the current national prohibition of openly gay men serving as adult troop leaders. Local units could set their own rules, but could face legal challenges.

In 2000 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Scouts could ban active homosexuals because their lifestyle conflicted with the core mission of the Scouts, which was imparting values.

Numerous pro-family groups, including Concerned Women for America, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute and Family Research Council, have urged the Scouts to continue their current policy. They argue that it helps to protect scouts from sexual abuse and aligns with the group's founding morals.

Last year, the Scouts were roiled by a sexual-abuse scandal following the revelation of secret files documenting the abuse of boys by their leaders between 1965 and 1985.

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

National Catholic Register

Christian Post

Image: Patheos

The letter comes from the Vatican's top-ranking Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

CDF head, Cardinal William Levada said the circular would include "directives" relating to the "reception of victims", working with civil authorities, protecting children and the training of future priests.

Levada announced he would be preparing the document after it had become apparent that bishops had for decades actively shielded pedophile priests. The document is developed to help every bishops' conference throughout the world design a "co-ordinated and effective programme" of child protection and of dealing with allegations of sexual abuse.

Levada is firm that Church leaders should collaborate with local law enforcement investigation abuse cases and intends to hold up the U.S. sexual abuse protocols as a model for bishops' conferences around the world, saying they were a "real success story" that could be used for bishops as well as Boy Scouts and public schools.

A Vatican official told the American Catholic News Service in November that the circular letter to bishops' conferences would encourage reporting accusations to civil authorities but would not mandate such reporting.

Also in November, the Vatican said bishops' conferences were encouraged to develop "effective, quick, articulated, complete and decisive plans for the protection of children" and that those plans should look toward bringing perpetrators to justice and assisting victims, "including in countries where the problem has not manifested itself in as dramatic a way as in others".

Sources

• Catholic Herald UK
• Seattle PI
• The Australian
• Image: Catholic Herald UK