ICCS: A Bridge for Dialog in the Universe of Scouting

A few days ago, the Dicastery received the visit of the members of the permanent committee of the International Catholic Conference of Scouting (ICCS), the organization that unites the leaders of the Catholic Scout associations throughout the world to share experiences and provide information as well as training at seminars and workshops.

At the meeting with the undersecretary Linda Ghisoni and the official Fr. Giovanni Buontempo, the ICCS committee—a conference of over 60 Scout associations involving almost 10 million people—presented some significant activities and events, including the participation of a representative of the Catholic Scouts at the pre-synod on young people.

On the occasion of this meeting, the ICCS—whose task it is to maintain the relations with the Church and the World Scout Movement (WOSM), which also includes non-Catholics—announced that an Inter-Religious Scout Forum will be held this month with the participation of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

The ICCS regional secretaries also reported that Catholic Scouting is well known in the Middle East, including in Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, and that strongly increasing interest is seen among young people, especially in Korea, Thailand, Indonesia but also in Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macao and, more recently, in Myanmar and East Timor.

Even in mainland China, some groups are beginning their activities, thanks to the presence of young Chinese linked to French parishes who, after attending training courses in France, have introduced the scouting experience at home. With regard to the American Continent, in addition to the English-speaking countries with the oldest and most consolidated scouting tradition, its diffusion is increasing in the Spanish-speaking regions. Finally, in Africa, scouting is present in 50 countries with the same number of associations—half of whom are Catholic—belonging to the WOSM.