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Pope Francis’ address to the national council of the
Italian Catholic Scout Movement for Adults (MASCI)
Clementine Hall – Saturday, 13 April 2024
“We are men and women from different paths and experiences, but united by the conviction that
scouting is a path of freedom for all seasons of life and that happiness is serving others,
starting with the smallest, weakest and most defenseless.” (by the MASCI Community Covenant)
“More life to life”
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am very happy to meet you on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of your foundation.
On 20 June 1954, thanks to the work of Mario Mazza and Father Ruggi of Aragona, the Italian Adult Catholic Scouts Movement was officially born in Rome.
The Association of the Knights of Saint George had already existed for about a decade, with the aim of bearing witness in life to the contents of the Scout Law and Promise.
However, it now defined itself more precisely, focusing on values of which you are still heirs,
guardians and promoters today: community, education, service, care for the common home.
I like the title you have chosen: “More life to life”, because life brings us abundance; we must work for abundance. You wanted to embody this in some symbolic projects to be carried out: namely, the donation of a thermal crib to the First Aid and Reception Centre of Lampedusa; the construction of a nautical carpentry workshop in Zambia; and the planting of a forest in Argenta, Romagna.
These initiatives touch on important values, which is why I would like to take a moment with you to reflect on them.
Firstly, the crib, which reminds us of the love for new life.
We live in a time when the birth rate is falling dramatically.
Just think that the average age of Italians is 46 years! (The average age of Albanians is 23).
This makes us understand. A dramatically declining birth rate.
My secretary told me that while crossing the square, he saw a woman with a pram…
He approached to see the baby, and it was a dog!
A dramatic denaturalization, in which mankind seems to have lost the joy of generating and caring for others, and perhaps even the even the joy of living.
A crib instead symbolizes the joy of a child coming into the world, the commitment to ensure that it grows well, the expectation and hope for what it can become.
The crib speaks to us of the family, a welcoming and safe nest for the little ones, a community founded on the gratuitousness of love; but also, on reflection, it speaks to us of attention to life in all of its phases, at every stage, especially when the passing of the years or the roughness of the journey make the person more vulnerable and needy.
And it is significant that your gift is destined for the Lampedusa First Aid and Reception Centre.
This is a further proof that the love of life is always open and universal, desiring the good of all, whatever their origin or any other condition.
The second initiative: carpentry workshop.
The carpentry workshop is a symbol dear to us Christians, because the Son of God chose it as the place where he prepared himself for his mission of salvation in His village, in Nazareth, working humbly “with human hands” (Gaudium et spes, 22).
In a world where much is said – perhaps too much – about the production of weapons for war.
An economist told me that currently gives the greatest return is the production of arms,
This reminds us of our vocation.
The fundamental vocation of humanity to transform God’s gifts into instruments of good, into the common commitment to building a just and peaceful society where everyone is given the possibility of a dignified life – not into instruments of death,
Finally, third project: the forest.
This reminds us of our responsibility for the common home, that the Creator entrusted to our hands. Respect, love and direct contact with nature have always been the hallmarks of Scouting.
And they are values we are much needed today, as we find ourselves increasingly powerless in the face of the consequences of irresponsible and short-sighted exploitation of the planet, prisoners of lifestyles and behaviors that are as selfishly deaf to any call for common sense as they are tragically self-destructive; insensitive to the cry of a wounded earth, as well as to the voice of so many brothers and sisters who are unjustly marginalized and excluded from a fair distribution of goods.
In the face of this, the sober, respectful and frugal style of scouts is a great example to everyone!
You have decided to plant your trees in Argenta, in memory of Don Giovanni Minzoni.
He was a courageous priest who, in a context of violent and arrogant hostility, fought also through scouting to form his young people in “a solid Christian life and a consequent commitment to the transformation of society” (Saint John Paul II, Letter to Archbishop E. Tonini of Ravenna, 30 September 1983, on the 60th anniversary of the death of Don Minzoni).
This too is an important reminder, a reminder of that integral ecology which, starting from the assumption of responsibility for climatic and environmental emergencies, broadens its reflection by considering, further ahead, “our unique place as human beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings” (Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, 15).
Dear friends, thank you for what you are and what you do! I encourage you to continue on your path, semel scout semper scout (once a scout, always a scout), as your motto says.
It is good for you to continue to be an open and caring community, ready to welcome, listen and accompany those whom the Lord places in your path; a prophetic community courageously proclaiming the Gospel and eager to step out of your own circle to meet others, especially those who inhabit the existential peripheries of your time.
I accompany you with my blessing and my prayer. And I also ask you to pray for me, please.
Thank you very much.
