One world, one promise

This year marks the centenary of the scouting movement; it’s an anniversary that the 28 million scouts and girl guides present in 216 countries throughout the world will celebrate on 1st August, the day on which, in 1907, the British Robert Baden Powell held the first scout camp on the island of Brownsea. The centenary scout Jamboree (world rally) will be held at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, near London from 27 July to 8th August. Its slogan will be “One world, one promise”. During the Jamboree a commemorative meeting at Brownsea will be held on 1st August. Meanwhile, on 1st July, 75,000 girl guides and scouts met together in twelve cities in France: Brest, Caen, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Marseilles, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Poitiers, Strasbourg and Toulouse: “a gigantic camp – explained the organizers – to raise awareness about scouting”. “All the various scouting movements follow the path of mutual support and propose to youth an educational method that helps to develop in them a strong personality, founded on Christ and dedicated to sharing high ideals of faith and solidarity”, says BENEDICT XVI, in the message sent for the occasion, and in view of the centenary celebration on 1st August, to Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux and President of the Bishops’ Conference of France, the country of Father Jacques Sevin, the Jesuit who, in the aftermath of the First World War, developed the Catholic scouting movement in the country. The Pope also recalled the centenary on Sunday 1st July, when he greeted the scouts and guides present in St. Peter’s Square, who, he said, “had brought the ‘Flame [the small flag with the fleur de lys and the colours of the scout group] of the spirit’ to Rome on its journey towards the United Kingdom”. THE INTUITION AND THE METHOD. All the scouting movements were represented at the meetings in France, “since scouting is not only Catholic – says a statement issued at the end of the rally -. Each has its place in a mission of solidarity and brotherhood: Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews and those of no confession”. Roselyne Bachelot, French Minister of Health, Youth and Sport, was also present at the rally; she read out a message sent by former scout and former French Foreign Minister, Michel Barnier. According to Bishop BENOIT RIVIÈRE of Autan, Chalon and Macon, and chairman of the Council for the pastoral care of children and adolescents, “the secret of the longevity of scouting” consists “in the intuition and method of Baden Powell, which still remain valid today: namely, giving responsibility to the young in proportion to their age, and educating them in love for nature and in the virtues of community life”, in some sense “an education in the Gospel”. “The educational methods – underlines the bishop – have evolved and been adapted to changes in society, while leaving free scope to the project’s inner dynamic. The formation of chiefs is also a strong point of the scout movements and a fine testimonial of the transmission of responsibility”. HUMAN GROWTH. “I witness – continues Bishop Rivière – the enthusiasm of the young chiefs (boys and girls), often students, who employ all their energy in the animation of scout groups. With wonder they are able to experience at first hand what a man and a woman discover with fatherhood and motherhood. The trust that their ‘children’ place in them may fill them with apprehension, since they themselves are conscious of their own frailty. It’s a process of human growth, and when a person is led to give the best of himself, the Lord’s call is better understood”. In the bishop’s view “much still remains to be done”, in particular with regard to “young people in difficulty”. According to Father JEAN-MARIE MALLET-GUY, chaplain general of scouts and girl guides in France, even if “all the scout associations in the world owe their origins to the genius of Baden Powell”, it was “Father Jacques Sevin (1882-1951) who in 1917 implanted scouting and its strong vision of man, brotherhood and peace in the heart of the Catholic Church, enriching it with symbols and prayers”. GUY’S DREAM. Guy De La Rigaudie, the French scout who was the first to link France with Indochina by car, fell in combat at the age of 32, fighting against the German invader on the frontier of Luxembourg on 11 May 1940. The following letter to a Carmelite Sister was found on his body: “Reverend Sister, here I am in the midst of the battle. It’s possible I won’t return. I had beautiful dreams and beautiful projects, but if it were not for the enormous distress this would cause to my poor mother and my family, I would exult with joy. I felt so much a yearning for Heaven, and now here the gates are about to open. The sacrifice of my life does not represent for me even a sacrifice, so great is my desire for Heaven and to be in God’s presence. I had dreamt of becoming a saint and being a model for Cubs, Scouts and Rovers. Perhaps it was too high an ambition for a man of my stature, but it was always my dream. I’m in a cavalry regiment, and I’m happy my last adventure will be on horseback…”.