Posted on 07/12/2007 1:30:44 PM PDT by fgoodwin
It was good to read that Pope Benedict sent a message of support to the Scout movement on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. August 1 marks the centenary of the first Scout camp, organized by Sir Robert (later Lord) Baden-Powell on the island of Brownsea, in England.
Boy Scouts, and the values which the Scouting movement inculcates, have attracted the admiration of great men from the movement's earliest days. Its beginnings were Edwardian, and it has preserved much of the best of that sunny and admirable period of Western civilization.
In a letter addressed to Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, president of the French bishops' conference, Pope Benedict stated:
The sense of responsibility that permeates Scout education leads to a life of charity and the desire to serve one's neighbor, in the image of Christ the servant, based on the grace offered by Christ, in a special way through the sacraments of the Eucharist and forgiveness.
The Pontiff encouraged the brotherhood of the Scouts, "which is a part of its original ideal and makes up, above all for young generations, a witness of that which is the body of Christ, within which, according to the image of St. Paul, all are called to fulfill a mission wherever they are, to rejoice in another's progress and to support their brothers in times of difficulty. I thank the Lord for all the fruits that, throughout these last 100 years, the Scouts have offered."
Benedict XVI's message ends with advice from Baden-Powell: "Be faithful to your Scout promise, even when you are no longer young, and may God help you to do so!
"When man seeks to be faithful to his promises, the Lord himself strengthens his steps."
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Please ping your scouting list.
Thanx
But, but, but....the Pope is the Anti-Christ!
Heck...with all the negativism about scouting and attempts to destroy it, it is refreshing to hear someone praise it.
I don’t know a single person who slams the Boy Scouts. In fact, most of us mothers of girls wish they had sister troops. GS just aren’t the same.
This reminds me that we are having a Food Drive in our parish this weekend so one of our young men can get to be an Eagle Scout! Off to buy food.
Glad to hear it...Scouting is a great institution. But as we all know, it is under fire from liberal groups such as the ACLU.
Thanks for being involved...:)
If they're inclined to a first responder career, Explorers is the way to go. Mostly fire and police and EMT units, but some other career-based posts.
If they prefer to continue the outdoor adventure theme of Scouting, then Venturing is the thing. My daughter is definitely a Venturer. She completed her Outdoor Bronze Award (it goes on to Gold and Silver, but she was doing a lot of other stuff) and had a great time. Ski trip every winter, lots of camping, kayaking, caving . . . ropes course, survival course, all that fun stuff. And a convention to meet and greet other Venturers and Explorers.
My girl absolutely loathed the Girl Scouts, the local troop was a disaster of little spoilt princesses and their perfectly coiffed and manicured moms.
Honestly, our troop is not so bad with great moms leading them. Brownies is run by a former Science teacher!
But Boy Scouts are still better.
I led ONE nature hike -- the girls were disinterested in any of the wild critters, plants, and even flowers I tried to help them find . . . . didn't care about identifying them, and complained the whole way that they were tired and their feet hurt (on a TWO MILE hike!) The moms were just as bad -- to fulfill the Civics merit badge I arranged a tour of the judicial system and a meet and greet with our state senator, and the moms started objecting about all sorts of trivial stuff (like parking, even though I had parking arranged, or traffic, or . . . whatever). Finally got one mom to admit that they just didn't want to go downtown - it was "too dangerous". Never mind that we were going to be in secure parking on Capitol Hill, which when the legislature is in session has a police officer literally on every corner, because for a legislator to get mugged during session would have Very Bad Consequences for the City of Atlanta, which is not well liked by the rest of Georgia anyway . . . .
I just gave up in disgust. And forget overnight camping!
The Eagle Scout doing the food drive is a member of my troop. I hope he does well.
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