Scouting America

Religious Emblems of Scouting America

Scouting America offers four Religious Emblem programs: two for Cub Scouts, one for Scouting America, and one for both Scouting America and Venturing Crew members. Scouts are encouraged to earn all four emblems as part of their Scouting and faith journeys.

Ad Altare Dei

Translated as ‘to the altar of God’, this emblem focuses on the sacraments and the presence of God in daily life.

Light of Christ

For younger scouts, this emblem encourages them to learn more about their Catholic faith and how to live out its principles in their daily lives.

Parvuli parDei

For Cub Scouts, this emblem focuses on understanding the Christian way of life and how to live it out through service and prayer.

Pope pius XII

The highest emblem for Scouting America, this is a comprehensive program that teaches important lessons about faith, morality, and leadership.

Light of Christ

The ‘Light of Christ’ program is designed for Cub Scouts between the ages of 6-7 years old (Tiger or Wolf) of the Catholic Faith.

The purpose of this program is to help the Cub Scout develop a personal relationship with Jesus. With the parents’ active assistance and participation in this program, it is hoped that the Cub will come to see Jesus as a real person and his friend.

  • To support the role of the parents as the primary catechists of their children;
  • To have the Scout identify Jesus as a real person and as his friend
  • To foster early family religious involvement
  • To be a stepping stone toward the ‘Parvuli Dei’ emblem and other religious emblems, when the parents are involved
  • To serve as a catalyst to draw the parents into a deeper involvement with the Church, through the child.

Parvuli Dei

The ‘Parvuli Dei’ program, for Catholic Cub Scouts aged 8-10, helps boys discover God’s presence in daily life and build a positive self-image through various activities. It focuses on integrating their faith with family and community contributions, with four main objectives guiding the program.

  • To help the Scout of his age to develop an awareness of God’s love for each one of His special, uniquely created beings
  • To help the Scout become aware and understand his identity as an important member of his family, his community, and as a member of the Family of God
  • To continue to develop an awareness as members of the parish and the Body of Christ
  • To aid the Scout in his awareness of the responsibilities that grows out of God’s love for us.

Ad Altare Dei

The ‘Ad Altare Dei’ program is for Catholic boy scouts aged 13-14, though older Scouts can also participate. Scouts must be registered, active in their troop for six months, and have completed the sixth grade before starting the program.

This program covers eight sections aligned with the seven Sacraments—Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Marriage, and Anointing of the Sick. It includes group discussions on service-based activities and projects to deepen Scouts’ understanding of their religion.

The most important aspect of the program is that the Scout grows in his spiritual experience of his relationship to God and the church.

To meet the program’s purpose, Scouts should work in groups with a certified Religious Emblems Counselor. A Board of Review is required.

Pope Pius XII

The ‘Pope Pius XII’ is a vocations-based program for Catholic Venturing Crew Members and Scouting America. It includes five major units, each with a spiritual reading, discussion, and activities to reinforce learning.

The three main objectives of the ‘Pop Pius XII’ program include:

  • To have the candidate examine how being a Christian Catholic affects daily life in a real world
  • To challenge the Scout/Venturer to evaluate his or her own personal talents and abilities in light of a possible choice of lifestyle/vocation or ministry that relates in some way to belonging to and becoming increasingly more active in the Catholic Christian faith community
  • To give the Scout/Venturer the opportunity to share his or her faith and practice his or her religion among peers, while receiving guidance and feedback attune to the ideals of Scouting.