"Protection of Creation
is a distinctive feature
of Christian commitment to the world"
Pope Johm Paul II
TO THE ITALIAN CATHOLIC GUIDES AND SCOUTS ASSOCIATION
Camp "rallies' help youth get closer to God
The Holy Father sent a Message dated 28 July to the members of AGESCI, the Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts Association. The girls and boys of this organization participated from 28 July to 7 August in the Italian National Camp rally and had invited the Pope, who was unable to attend.
"Where everything speaks of the Creator and his wisdom, from the majestic mountains to the enchanting, flower-strewn valleys, may you learn to contemplate God's beauty, and may your souls, as it were, "breathe'", the Holy Father wrote to the young people. He encouraged them to deepen their faith continuously, "making the most of love and respect for nature". "Today this is an urgent and obligatory task for everyone", the Pope said, "but it has always been so for scouts, who are motivated not by some vague "ecological feeling', but by the sense of responsibility that derives from faith".
The following is a translation of the Holy Father's Message, which was written in Italian and dated 28 July.
Dear Scouts and Guides
of AGESCI,
I still have a vivid memory of the visit that I had the joy to make to
the participants in your national "Route", at Piani di Pezza in the Abruzzi
in the summer of 1986. This year you have suggested a great new communitarian
experience, the national Camp, that will take place simultaneously in
four campsites, in the Provinces of Avellino, Cagliari, Perugia and Turin.
This time, unfortunately, I am unable to accept your lovely invitation
to be with you. I would like to assure you, however, that I remember you
with affection and am close to you in prayer, so that each one of you,
a young person or an adult, may live the days at "camp" to the full. About
three months ago I received in audience a large group of the directors
and leaders of your Association, and I assured them of the Church's confidence
and trust in the content and method of AGESCI's proven educational proposal.
Now, as I think of the thousands of you in the splendid settings where
you will pitch your tents, I would like to return to one of the formative
topics dear to you, that is, the importance you must give to continually
deepening your faith through practical love of, and respect for, nature:
today this is an urgent and obligatory task for everyone, but it has always
been so for scouts, who are motivated not by some vague "ecological feeling",
but by the sense of responsibility that derives from faith. The protection
of creation, in fact, is a distinctive feature of Christian commitment
in the world.
AGESCI camps are important moments for encounter with God
2. Where everything speaks of the Creator and his wisdom, from the majestic mountains to the enchanting, flower-strewn valleys, may you learn to contemplate God's beauty, and may your souls, as it were, "breathe", opening to praise, silence and contemplation of the divine mystery.
The "rally" in which you are taking part, therefore, as well as being an adventure holiday, becomes in this way an encounter with God, with oneself and others; an encounter favoured by a serious review of life in the light of the Word of God and of the principles of your formation project.
When Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to Mount Tabor, he certainly had the opportunity to admire with them the view of Galilee that one can enjoy from those heights. But this obviously was not his primary aim. He wanted to make his disciples share in his prayer and to show them his glorious face in order to prepare them to bear up under the harsh trial of the passion. Keeping things in proper proportion, is this not also the meaning of the "camps" that AGESCI offers its members? These are important moments in which, with the help of the natural environment, you will have a strong experience of God, of Jesus and of fraternal communion. All this prepares you for life, for founding your most demanding plans on faith and for overcoming crises with the light and strength that come from Above.
Style of AGESCI scouts and guides: service
3. Dear friends, the AGESCI scouts programme seeks to form the personality of children, young people and adults, in accordance with the Gospel model. It is a school of life where one learns a "style" which, if it is well assimilated, endures throughout life. This style can be summed up in the word "service". And if this applies for every young person who takes part in this scouting experience, regardless of his faith, it is especially true for you, who call yourselves and want to be real "Catholics". Your service must be even more generous and disinterested, after the example set by Jesus who said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20: 35).
Dear Scouts and Guides, I assure you of my spiritual presence, strengthened by prayer, so that Our Lady, the faithful Virgin, may protect and accompany you.
With these thoughts and heartfelt sentiments, I bless you, your leaders and the entire AGESCI family.
From Castel Gandolfo, 28 July 2003