Polis - The city of Scout

At the end of World War II, as Allied armies advancing from the south to the north of the peninsula, the "old scouts", ie those who in 1928 had been wanted by the dissolution of fascism, the reopening of the offices' ASCI and grouped in Boys Scouts of all regions.

In this regard, as early as September 1943 Mario Mazza, had sent, with all kinds of means, an illegal move to Regional Commissioners in office at the time of dissolution. The same summer of '43 in agreement with our founder Monsignor Rusticoni, had recalled to work dell'ASCI Central Commissioners in office in 1928. The meetings were held in Rome, in what is still the headquarters of the Military, on an ascent of Cricket n. 36 to a few hundred meters from Piazza Venezia. Since those first meetings, Mazza said it would be necessary to add a new branch all'ASCI that affiancasse categories of young people, and exactly the category of "adult scout." Augustus Lupoli, enthusiastic about the idea, immediately called to rally the old-time friends, and November 26 of that year he founded, in a Rome still militarily occupied, the first "Fellowship of the Knights of St. George "which he called: << I seekers >> paths.

In recalling the events of the history of the Italian Catholic Scouts, I came to think that the "Spirit" blows at odd moments and at the second time categories different from ours. In a historical moment in which, each adult scout must have seemed clear which side the truth themselves and that part wrong, these brothers have been able to highlight what I believe is our most original feature: to be "seekers", be "Seekers of paths", being, as scouts, men and women constantly searching the paths of truth. I think it's not a case where the initial part of "Scouting for adults" (ed. Pauline 1991), the authors reveal that the first address methodological aspects of the Scouting for adults, we must reaffirm a fundamental characteristic of community adult scout , a feature without which all subsequent methodological reflection is meaningless.

Who made ​​the scout leader in youth movements with children knows that you can leverage on the game environment and fantastic with the kids on the spirit squad and adventure and with young idealism, enthusiasm and great sensitivity to social problems. In a community of adults is very different, there is among people with a personal story, a character already outlined, with choices already matured, people overloaded with work and family, people with complex issues and sometimes existential frustration. Hold together with a group like this is very difficult, indeed the world of adults is difficult. A community of adult scout is a community between people from different gender, age, social status, culture, being a couple or single, the vocations, the very diversity of life option policy and religious experience while the share of the Annunciation must-Easter: "Christ died and rose again."

In other words, the unity of the Catholic Scouts of adults, although there is a good thing, however, imperative that, in respect of diversity as a richness, is an unending work and built day by day all together. A community of adult scout must practice unity in diversity, and fight the temptation of approval, which leads to temptation to seek an encounter between equals, a temptation that leads to "intellectual isolation" and all'inaridimento operational. It is important that the community, and it especially the magister, manage, enhance and give dignity to all our differences. As clearly evidenced in the above-mentioned publication, the first danger that a community of adult scout must fight is the "club syndrome". Who animates a community should have a great ability to focus on problems and needs of all, avoiding the limelight and some encouraging, however, the realization of each. When this is not done the community lives the drama of the dispersion and the progressive disengagement of its components, and this often create a sense of frustration and disappointment in those who, in some ways, it is spent to give birth to the group.

The disappointment of seeing disjointed effort and results, to invest a lot of work, for no appreciable result, generates pessimism and disengagement in the most generous and most active. In this real cancer associated remedy must urge them all to reject two easy temptations and, conversely, to undertake to promote, update and live more intensely the educational proposal of a scout for adults:

The first temptation to be rejected and that the "yield" to sit on the bank of the river and let the story flow in front of us. And 'the temptation of those who had invested much of himself in the community, when the results do not correspond to the efforts and leaves bitterly since the rise of the first conflict. It should however, while not giving up their ideas, learn to live with the inevitable conflict, accept them, but above all learn to defuse, deepening their knowledge of group dynamics.

The second temptation is to dismiss, on the contrary, that of fundamentalism. The temptation to take refuge in the safety of steel ideological certainties, truths prefabricated, of passwords, with the consequent tendency to build a "private community" that excludes those who are not like us, in other words, to "use" the Movement for their own purposes: this is the ideological temptation of pride.

To yield pride and ideological opposition to the "educational proposal of the Movement," the proposal of a group of adults that "their way": Adults, aware of the limits of their "adulthood". Adults who, conscious of being in possession of certainty about constantly exposed to refutation by the hard lessons of history, undertake a path of lifelong learning through service. Adults who practice acceptance of others, living the joyous expectation of meeting new traveling companions, who exercise the courage to go forward after each disappointment, that does not give up the challenge to learn from their defeats, and when forgiveness, "do not lose the lesson." Adults who cultivate the taste and enthusiasm to explore new avenues, while remaining steadfastly faithful to its history, its identity and its values.

The title of this article, deliberately echoes the first verse of an old song: "are just three words ..." because it is my personal belief (and as such certainly questionable) that the commitment to the development and consolidation of the Scout Movement adult can be summarized in three words: history, identity and ... friendship. I believe that beyond any more or less scholarly examination of the "conditio sine qua non" for development, both in a nutshell: (1) The ability to love the movement and its history. (2) The ability to have the just pride of his identity as adults-scouts. (3) The ability, but above all the will, to create among all A / S bonds of sincere and steadfast friendship, because experience shows that "among friends" have different ideas is a treasure more.

We recently celebrated 100 years of scouting method , let me end with a wish, that is a hope: The hope that, as the first company of the Knights of St. George, to take root in Italy and internationally, a movement of seekers << a >> paths. A movement of men and women, adults and Scouts, able to accommodate even know the difference. A movement always traveling the "path" of a "road to freedom", as well as the Dominican Father Forestier, unforgettable Assistant National Scout French, called Scouting.

Francesco Marchetti
Community MASCI - Lamezia Terme 1 ° "Neocastrum"