International Union of European Guides and Scouts Visits the Dicastery

In recent days, the Dicastery's Secretary, Father Alexandre Awi Mello, and Father Giovanni Buontempo, in charge of relations with the ecclesial movements and new communities, met with the Federal Bureau of the International Union of European Guides and Scouts European Scouting Federation ( UIGSE - FSE) which, at the beginning of this year, counted 63,000 members in 21 ESF associations.
The members of the Federal Bureau present were Martin Hafner (Federal Commissioner), Tomasz Slyzke (Vice President), Erik Paris (Federal Secretary) and Father Boguslaw Migut (Federal Religious Assistant).

The Federation saw a sign of great hope in the recent launching of Europe's Scouts in new European countries such as Holland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, as well as in the encouraging start in non-European countries such as Mexico, Canada, and the United States, where, although they are not European, various dioceses have insistently asked for European Scouts because of their clear Catholic identity, the healthy anthropology that inspires their educational path, and the solid moral training given to young people.

At the end of January 2018, an important international congress of the ESF spiritual assistants will be held in Rome on the theme of the upcoming Synod of Bishops "Young people, Faith, and Vocational Discernment." The Bureau expressed the strong desire that the Dicastery be present to give guidelines and advice to the over 100 priests who will attend. The Federal Bureau expressed its full readiness to collaborate with the Dicastery and the vivid desire to remain at the service of the whole Church by engaging in the Christian formation of young people and in the new evangelization.