WASHINGTON, D.C. — With Scout Sunday coming up on Feb. 8, the Catholic Committee on Scouting of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), has introduced a new activity patch honoring religious sisters who served as nurses in the Civil War. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, recently approved creation of the patch to raise awareness of the sister nurses’ courageous healing ministry treating those wounded in battle on both the Union and Confederate sides, and all in need of medical treatment during the Nation’s deadliest war.
The new patch features the image of a Civil War Catholic sister nurse from a stained glass window at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, MD, alongside the AMS Coat of Arms. It is now available to any youth or adult who meets age or grade-specific requirements. For example, for applicants in Grades 1-5, the requirements include researching questions such as why there was such a great need for Catholic sisters to care for the wounded, how Catholic sisters changed hospitals to improve health care, and what modern-day military organization evolved from their Civil War nursing ministry.
For Grades 6-12, the requirements include researching a religious order that continues to serve the sick today, finding the story of someone who has answered a call to religious life, and conversing with a Catholic military veteran who has served overseas about his or her experience with military nurses. Adults can earn the patch by helping youth meet these requirements, verifying their research, and completing the scout patch order form. See the full list of requirements for the Civil War Catholic Sister Nurses Patch here.
Archbishop Broglio has expressed high regard for scouting as a tool for helping youth develop a sound Catholic spiritual life. He said, “I can only rejoice at this additional patch that will contribute to a wider understanding of the contributions of religious women to the military efforts, especially as ministers of healing to the wounded on both sides. Christian charity does not look to the tribe, ethnic grouping, or party affiliation. It responds to the Face of Christ of a person in need. Young people also need the guidance of happy, healthy, and holy adult role models willing to share their faith in both word and action.”
The Civil War Catholic Sister Nurses Patch is the second scouting patch now offered by the AMS Catholic Committee on Scouting. In 2022, the Committee introduced the Father Vincent Capodanno Activity Patch to spread awareness of the priest hero killed in action while supporting embattled U.S. Marines in the Vietnam War, earning him the Medal of Honor and a candidacy for sainthood now under consideration by the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. See requirements for the Father Capodanno Activity patch here.
Read more at milarch.org/scouting/.