Returning God’s Dimension to Catholic Scouting

“Returning God’s Dimension to Catholic Scouting”

Fr. Joseph Charan Thongpiyaphoom

Spiritual  Director, Catholic Education Council, Thailand 

On September 15, 2017, Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, described the situation we are in now as a world “marked by the blight of Godless terrorism, of an increasingly aggressive secularism” and an “advancing culture of death.” He urged Catholics to restore primacy to God: “If the witness of Christians in an increasingly godless world has become weaker, if our world has forgotten about God, is this perhaps because we who are supposed to be ‘the light of the world’ are not drawing sufficiently deeply from the font from which all her power flows so as to bring all to enjoy that ‘spring of water welling up to eternal life?’”

Satan Came to TV: “Like St. Michael, No Compromise!”

When our world has forgotten God, Satan appears! January 25, 2016, Fox TV has brought a new series to America’s prime-time viewing hours called Lucifer. Without a doubt, this program aids and abets the rise of Satanism.

Here’s how this Fox series is advertised to portray Satan:

•  Fox's online "About The Show" presents the devil as "charming, charismatic and devilishly handsome."

• Lucifer is a successful, handsome, dashing, witty, likable, and intelligent young man innocently “indulging in a few of his favorite things – wine, women and song.”

•  Lucifer’s “conscience” is increasingly touched by a successful, beautiful, serious, likable, and intelligent young woman detective.

•  Lucifer refers to God like this: "I quit Hell because I was sick and tired of playing a part in Dad's plan. I believe in free will, not the tyranny of all his predestination hoo-ha."

• The film is quite demonic in its subtlety. In a nightclub, clips show plenty of gyrating, scantily clad dancers, sexual innuendos, glorify a party lifestyle, and portray Lucifer as a fun loving young man while God and his angel are no fun at all and don't relate to modern man.

Satan Came to Town: “Be Gone Satan!” 

The battlecries rang out. Catholics from around the country came to fight. They yielded the weapons of the prayers of the Church. On August 15, 2016, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, a satanic group called the Church of Ahriman took sacrilegious desecration to a new low. As had been advertised for months, the satanic group would use the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, a taxpayer-funded venue. Registered sex offender Adam Daniels led a satanic ‘black mass.’ The Blessed Sacrament and the Catholic Mass were mocked and blasphemed. This was followed by a ceremony called the Consumption of Mary. Deliberately mocking Our Lady’s Assumption, a statue of the Blessed Mother was decapitated, and a pig’s heart inside consumed after smashing the statue to pieces.

Satan Came to School: “God Yes! Satan No!”

The spiritual struggle between good and evil was apparent at Point Defiance Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington, as dozens of people gathered to protest the opening of an After School Satan Club that targets children as young as five. The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and its America Needs Fatima campaign mobilized their members in Tacoma. They assembled in front of the school for a peaceful prayer vigil and protest on December 14, 2016, shortly before the Satan Club was scheduled to hold its first meeting on school property.

I. Duty to God 

Webpage of Boy Scouts of America declares, “A Scout is reverent. He is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and religion. The BSA Statement of Religious Principle ‘maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God.’”

The membership standard for youth members of the BSA is as follows: Membership in any program of the Boy Scouts of America requires the youth member to (a) subscribe to and abide by the values expressed in the Scout Oath and Law, (b) subscribe to and abide by the precepts of the Declaration of Religious Principles (duty to God), and (c) demonstrate behavior that exemplifies the highest level of good conduct and respect for others and is consistent at all times with the values expressed in the Scout Oath and Law.

Scouting, as Catholic youth ministry, allows us to provide a safe environment in which the Catholic faith can be taught, practiced and nurtured. Scouting, as a program for all youth, gives us, as Catholics, the opportunity to meet youth in an activity they enjoy and evangelize them in faith.

The Scout Oath

Original 1908 text:

In his original book on Boy Scouting, Baden-Powell introduced the Scout Promise as follows:

On my honour I promise that

   • I will do my duty to God and the King.

   • I will do my best to help others, whatever it costs me.

   • I know the scout law, and will obey it.

World Organization of the Scout Movement text:

On my honour I promise that I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my Country

To help other people at all times and

To obey the Scout Law.

The US Scouts text:

On my honor, I will do my best 

To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; 

To help other people at all times; 

To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

The BSA continues to explain: “The Boy Scout Oath has traditionally been considered to have three promises. Those three promises are delineated by the semicolons in the Oath, which divide it into three clauses. The three promises of the Scout Oath are, therefore:

   • Duty to God and country

   • Duty to other people

   • Duty to self

Duty to God and country: Your family and religious leaders teach you to know and serve God. By following these teachings, you do your duty to God. Men and women of the past worked to make America great, and many gave their lives for their country. By being a good family member and a good citizen, by working for your country's good and obeying its laws, you do your duty to your country. Obeying the Scout Law means living by its 12 points.

Duty to other people: Many people need help. A cheery smile and a helping hand make life easier for others. By doing a Good Turn daily and helping when you're needed, you prove yourself a Scout and do your part to make this a better world.

Duty to self: Keeping yourself physically strong means taking care of your body. Eat the right foods and build your strength. Staying mentally awake means learn all you can, be curious, and ask questions. Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.”

The Change of Scout Oath

From 1 January 2014, atheists yearning to slip on a woggle and embrace the self-reliant yet altruistic philosophy of the Scouts will find the organization well prepared. After more than a century, members will no longer have to promise – on their honour – to do their duty to God when they make their pledge to the movement. They will, however, still be required to promise to uphold Scout values, observe its law, do their duty to the Queen and help others.

The introduction of the atheist-friendly pledge comes after the Scout Association spent 10 months pondering how best to welcome non-believers. “Throughout its 106-year history, the movement has continued to evolve and today marks an important step in that journey,” said Wayne Bulpitt, UK chief commissioner for the Scouts. “It also signifies the determination to become truly inclusive and relevant to all sections of society that it serves.”New Alternative Scout Oaths 

Australia:

On my honour, I promise

To do my best,

To be true to my spiritual beliefs,

To contribute to my community and our world,

To help other people,

And to live by the Scout Law

Belgium:

I promise, on my honour, to try:

To be loyal to a higher ideal, our group and democracy

To obey the guides/Scouts law

To help where possible

Different, optional promises for different associations are present in United Kingdom, Canada, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Taiwan.

Countries that took away the phrase “Duty to God” include Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, the Netherland, Srilanka, Vietnam, and Thailand. While the phrase is still keep in other countries including Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore.

Edward P. Martin, former chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting (NCCS), wrote a letter in 2013 declaring “The Scout Oath begins with duty to God, and the Scout Law ends with a Scout’s obligation to be reverent. Those will always remain core values of the Boy Scouts of America. The values set forth in the Scout Oath and Law are fundamental to the BSA and central to teaching young people to make better choices over their lifetimes.”

II. New Horizon of Catholic Education: Holistic Education 

In 2015 the Congregation for Catholic Education published “Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion, Challenges, Strategies and Perspectives that emerge from the Responses to the Questionnaire of the Instrumentum Laboris.”  This document is the results deriving from analysis of the data that emerged from the questionnaire contained in the Instrumentum Laboris “Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion” (2014). In this document the 11 challenges proposed in the questionnaire were reduced to 4 challenges, among which, The Challenge of Holistic Education was used instead of The Challenge of Integral Education.

The document states, “Using tools of modern computering applied to the social sciences allowed us to form a complete picture. The quantitative method was backed up by qualitative analysis, which – thanks to the techniques of sociology and social psychology – enabled us to understand fully the strengths and the weaknesses within the structures of education. The study of semantic fields and co-occurrences, moreover, brought to the fore some recurring themes aimed at delivering an educational formation that is holistic, inclusive, oriented to service and dedication to the community.”

It is clear then that the new horizon of Catholic education today is envisioning Catholic Identity as a genuine Holistic Education.

“Boriroop”

Interestingly Thai language does not have word for “to form”. It uses a synonym “to mold” with connotation of outward action on the part of the educator. The English “form” came into existence in the 13th century, while “reform” took 400 year to be used in 1663. Most of academic words in Thai have Pali and Sanskrit roots. The Pali अभिसङ्खरोति (abhisaṅkharoti) means “to form”, but it has no word for “to reform” as we mean it now. It uses a synonym “to restore” पटिसङ्खरोति  (paṭisaṅkharoti). Thai equivalent word ปฏิสังขรณ์ means exactly the synonym “to restore”. In modern day Thai academics coined ปฏิรูป पटिरूप (patirūpa) for “to reform”. The root रूप  (rūpa) means “form; image”. They “coined” the word because पटिरूप actually means “suitable” (adj.). 

Now if Thai academics would like to “coin” also a word for “to reform”, they should consider an existing word บริบาล परिपालेति (paripāleti) “to protect”. The prefix परि (pari) means “complete”. Combining the prefix परि (pari) “complete” and the root रूप  (rūpa) “image”, we have a perfect intelligible word บริรูป परिरूप (parirūpa) “to completely form”. Therefore บริรูป (boriroop) “to form” has a very holistic connotation of “total formation” and “to bring out the whole image of Christ”.

What is Holistic education?

Holistic education is a philosophy of education based on the premise that each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to humanitarian values such as compassion and peace.

“Holistic” means “relating to wholes”.  Whole comes from Old English hāl; akin to Old High German heil healthy, unhurt. Therefore the first definition of Whole is not having all its proper parts, but rather physically, mentally or emotionally sound and healthy. It is obvious then the dictionary definition of whole omits the most important constituent components of man, namely spiritual.

Education with a holistic perspective is concerned with the development of every person’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials. It seeks to engage students in the teaching/learning process and encourages personal and collective responsibility. Here one can notice that a holistic perspective is a return of the most important dimension to education: the spiritual dimension. Thus in the case of Catholic holistic education, it is a return of God’s dimension to education.

Curriculum of Holistic education

In considering curriculum using a holistic approach, one must address the question of what children need to learn. Since holistic education seeks to educate the whole person, there are some key factors that are essential to this type of education. 

• Children need to learn about themselves. This involves learning self-respect and self-esteem.
• Children need to learn about relationships. In learning about their relationships with others, there is a focus on social “literacy” and emotional “literacy.” 
• Children need to learn about resilience. This entails overcoming difficulties, facing challenges and learning how to ensure long-term success.
• Children need to learn about aesthetics – This encourages the student to see the beauty of what is around them and learn to have awe in life. 

Teaching strategies of holistic education

With the goal of educating the whole child, holistic education promotes several strategies to address the question of how to teach and how people learn. 

The idea of holism advocates a transformative approach to learning. Rather than seeing education as a process of transmission and transaction, transformative learning involves a change in the frames of reference that a person may have. This change may include points of view, habits of mind, and worldviews. Holism understands knowledge as something that is constructed by the context in which a person lives. Therefore, teaching students to reflect critically on how we come to know or understand information is essential. As a result, if “we ask students to develop critical and reflective thinking skills and encourage them to care about the world around them they may decide that some degree of personal or social transformation is required.” 

Along the same thread as the idea of connections in holistic education, is the concept of transdisciplinary inquiry. Transdisciplinary inquiry is based on the premise that division between disciplines is eliminated. One must understand the world in wholes as much as possible and not in fragmented parts. “Transdisciplinary approaches involve multiple disciplines and the space between the disciplines with the possibility of new perspectives ‘beyond’ those disciplines. Where multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary inquiry may focus on the contribution of disciplines to an inquiry transdisciplinary inquiry tends to focus on the inquiry issue itself.”

Holistic education feels that meaningfulness is also an important factor in the learning process. People learn better when what is being learned is important to them. Holistic schools seek to respect and work with the meaning structures of each person. Therefore, the start of a topic would begin with what a student may know or understand from their worldview, what has meaning to them rather than what others feel should be meaningful to them. In finding inherent meaning in the process of learning and coming to understand how they learn, students are expected to self-regulate their own learning. However, because of the nature of community in holistic education, students learn to monitor their own learning through interdependence on others inside and outside of the classroom.

Community is an integral aspect in holistic education. As relationships and learning about relationships are keys to understanding ourselves, so the aspect of community is vital in this learning process. Forbes states, “In holistic education the classroom is often seen as a community, which is within the larger community of the school, which is within the larger community of the village, town, or city, and which is, by extension, within the larger community of humanity.”

Teacher's role in Holistic Education 

In holistic education, the teacher is seen less as person of authority who leads and controls but rather is seen as “a friend, a mentor, a facilitator, or an experienced traveling companion.”  Schools should be seen as places where students and adults work toward a mutual goal. Open and honest communication is expected and differences between people are respected and appreciated. Cooperation is the norm, rather than competition. Thus, many schools incorporating holistic beliefs do not give grades or rewards. The reward of helping one another and growing together is emphasized rather than being placed above one another.

Holistic Scouting

The BSA introduces Scout Interfaith Service, explaining that “Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, believed that a person’s religion is not in how he behaves; rather it is in what he believes. This is where the Scout Law intersects with spirituality. In developing character, Scouts may connect their spirituality to the Scout Law so that the living out of their religious faith is also an active expression of the Scout Law.”  This is a good example of how to explore on holistic perspective of scouting. But it is of paramount importance that Catholic scouting should reexamine itself in the light of the philosophy, goals, characteristics, curriculum, and strategies of holistic education. Catholic scouting should be holistic.

III. Challenges to Catholic Education 

The following is the excerpt from “Challenges, Strategies and Perspectives”:

1. The challenge of identity 

The concern for keeping true to one’s own identity can assume a defensive tone. Thus, the impression is given that identity is a sort of protective armour, a fortress that guards our cherished traditional values, which are threatened by the dangers of secularization, unbridled capitalism, as well as cultural and religious relativism. Faced with such dangers and pitfalls, and the cold wind of secularization that sweeps away every reminder of the sacred and the transcendent, we may be tempted to run away.

Secularization

Secularization is the breeding ground for a form of spiritual poverty in rapid expansion. If large parts of the world are seeing a major expansion of the threat of fundamentalism, relativism has gained more and more ground in traditionally Christian countries, which are increasingly undermined by a loss of the dimension of the sacred. In mainstream culture and in common thought, God is increasingly less present, and everyday life is dominated by a sense of self-sufficiency that renders any reference to Christian values redundant. These values are often confined to the private sphere, are seen as being a leftover from childhood, or sometimes are decidedly ignored. Widespread cultural and religious pluralism is a habitat that favours relativism. The Catholic religion loses its relevance in an increasingly competitive environment. Here, those who contend for the faithful are not so much other religions, but rather a multiplicity of actors or movements, which influence people’s lives by offering them new meaning and values, which are often consumerism, fame, or the pursuit of personal success at any cost. All this helps to transform faith into a private matter, something hidden, no longer shared and spoken of in the social sphere.

In this cultural context, the issue of education emerges as a particular emergency. Hence, the urgent need for Catholic schools to learn to speak to the human heart, and grow in their ability to rekindle the question about the meaning of life and reality, which risks being forgotten.

Between Functionalistic Reductionism and Holistic Education 

One of the most common concerns raised, to the point of considering it perhaps the challenge of challenges, is provoked by the economic and social framework of the entire global village in which we live today. The subordination of means to the incontestable end of profit; the prevalence of the standard of profit as a measure of all choices; the intensification of individualistic competition; looser links of solidarity; the adulation of efficiency, optimization and, eventually, success at all costs – all this appears to be the biggest threat to promoting a more human approach. Education is challenged in its deepest values eg. the primacy of the person, the value of the community, the search for the common good, care for the weak and concern for the least, cooperation and solidarity, etc.

Catholic education must reaffirm the value of the human person as its specific contribution to a society that nurtures the value of competitive individualism and legitimizes - indeed boosts - inequality. Attention to the human person leads us to respect the ideas of others; it educates us to open debate, discussion and research, in an atmosphere of friendship and cooperation.

Catholic education helps to build a more human, more just and more united society. In a world suffering from the impact of major social change and globalization, in which the institution of the family is in deep crisis, where the culture of “emptying” and lack of interior depth prevails, we need to rediscover the meaning of life. Catholic schools, with their values, seek to respond to these challenges. The belief strongly held is that everything must lead to an encounter with the living Jesus. In general, one sense an effort to create an alliance between lived faith and daily life, especially in those areas characterized by high levels of social fragility.

We can outline some features that are common to the identity of Catholic schools : 

• a strong sense of vitality, a life of faith that pervades the whole person;
• a sense of social justice and a search for the common good, the building of a united and fraternal society; 
• the involvement of students in activities outside the school, with visits to institutions that are most in need, aid to poor communities, solidarity campaigns, thus linking educational curricula with supportive services; 
• a Christian sense of community, a family atmosphere, and hospitality; 
• the pursuit of quality in interpersonal relationships; 
• the importance of synergy among families, school and students, to overcome difficulties; 
• the realization that education is not merely knowledge, but is also experience and practice. To know is to know how to act.

Faced with a society perceived as fragmented, individualistic and arid, the fundamental concern for education is for the holistic formation of the human person. The learning experience should be characterized by many opportunities available to young people so as to grow and develop their skills and talents. There should be a carefully balanced attention to their cognitive, emotional, social, professional, ethical and spiritual dimensions. Each student should be encouraged to develop his/her talents in an atmosphere of cooperation and solidarity.

Attention to the human person is closely linked with the school or university’s identity, because a primary concern for the human person reflects the centrality given to the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ humanity is the reference point for all that is human, and the desire of Catholic schools is for people to meet this humanity. The very heart of a Catholic university or school’s identity is the person of Jesus Christ.

“We firmly believe that the heart of Catholic education is the person of Jesus Christ. Everything that happens in Catholic schools should lead to an encounter with the person of Jesus, the living Christ.”

“A well-defined ideal of Catholic educational institutions: despite their differences - caused by diversity in terms of geographic location, size, age, student population, and the specific features of their various socio-economic and cultural contexts - schools are mainly communities of faith and learning.” 

“The Catholic school is called to be, first and foremost, a community of faith and life. In this way, it becomes an antidote against our society’s individualism and consumerism.”

2. The Challenge of Holistic Education

Contemporary society is affected by several problems that are causing what is described as an “educational emergency”. It presents Catholic institutions with the challenge to help foster anthropological and ethical values in individual consciences and cultures, identified as necessary for building a society based on fraternity and solidarity.

A number of “quality hallmarks” that Catholic institutions must be able to ensure, namely: 

• Respect for individual dignity and uniqueness 
• Opportunities to grow/ learn
• A balanced focus on different aspects of learning (e.g. cognitive, affective, social, ethical, spiritual and professional)
• Encouragement to develop talents in a climate of co-operation and solidarity 
• Respect for ideas, openness to dialogue, the ability to interact and work together in a spirit of freedom and care.

These quality hallmarks emphasize a holistic approach to the development of the person. It is an education that encourages people to develop the values and virtues necessary for a healthy and joyful life, a life that has and gives meaning to all as they set about to address issues pertinent to growth.

The Centrality of Learners

“Learning is not just equivalent to content assimilation, but is an opportunity for self-education, commitment towards self-improvement and the common good.”  The link between learning and personal and social development is emphasized. Learning is seen as a constant journey, an engagement with self and others.

However, Catholic education must highlight the importance of the individual as being of service to others. This is a central component of a Catholic institution. The term ‘development’ is directly linked to being Catholic; with providing opportunities for the person to grow from an integral, holistic perspective. The term implies that students need to be exposed to educational experiences that lead to development in the cognitive, affective, social, ethical, spiritual and professional dimensions. At all times, the focus is on human development, the development of ‘the person’, focusing on faith formation and personality development.

At the same time, development is linked to service. It is a journey towards self but one that also depends on being engaged with and for others, hence modeling Christ as servant leader. It is in this way that we can be truly human, one where our faith is lived on a day-to-day basis.

Challenges to Catholic Scouting 

Catholic Scouting has an urgent need to protect scouts from the attack of secularism, materialism and reductionism by inculcating features that are common to the identity of Catholic schools, especially A Life Of Faith, the only thing that will give them true fulfillment. 

It also embraces the challenges of holistic education by fostering the quality hallmarks of Catholic identity. It’s activities must ensure respect for individual dignity and uniqueness, opportunities to grow, encouragement to develop talents in a climate of co-operation and solidarity.

IV. Catholic Identity

A holistic view of Catholic identity looks at education in its inputs, process, and outputs. Here we shall touch only some points.

Philosophy of Catholic Education 

The most compelling statement on philosophy of Catholic education comes from Saint Thomas. For him “education is the forming of ‘new man’ up to the point of virtue.” According to “Gravissimum Educationis”, “a true education aims at the formation of the human person in the pursuit of his ultimate end and of the good of the society.” (GE 1) “Its proper function is to create for the school community a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity, to help youth grow according to the new creatures they were made through baptism as they develop their own personalities (ut in propria persona evolvenda una simul crescant secundum novam creaturam), and finally to order the whole of human culture to the news of salvation so that the knowledge the students gradually acquire of the world, life and man is illumined by faith.” (GE 8)

“The Catholic school sets out to be a school for the human person and of human persons. The person of each individual human being, in his or her material and spiritual needs, is at the heart of Christ's teaching: this is why the promotion of the human person is the goal of the Catholic school.”  (RD 9)

In fact, faithful to its vocation, it appears “as a place of integral education of the human person through a clear educational project of which Christ is the foundation”, directed at creating a synthesis between faith, culture and life. (ET 3)

Goal of Catholic Education

“The Catholic School” states that “the goal of Catholic Education is the cause of the total formation of man.”  (CS 15)

The goal of Catholic Education for all students: 

“Catholic education is designed not only (1) to develop with special care the intellectual faculties but also (2) to form the ability to judge rightly, (3) to hand on the cultural legacy of previous generations, (4) to foster a sense of values, to prepare for professional life.” (GE 5)

The goal of Catholic Education for Catholic students: 

“Catholic education has as its principal purpose this goal: that the baptized become ever more aware of the gift of Faith they have received, and that they learn to worship God the Father; that they be conformed in their personal lives according to the new man created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:22-24); that they develop into perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13); that they strive to help in the Christian formation of the world that takes place when natural powers contribute to the good of the whole society.” (GE 2)

Principles of Catholic Education

The Principle of Integration of Culture, Faith and Life 

“The task of the Catholic school is fundamentally a synthesis of culture and faith, and a synthesis of faith and life: the first is reached by integrating all the different aspects of human knowledge through the subjects taught, in the light of the Gospel; the second in the growth of the virtues characteristic of the Christian.” (CS 37)  

“The aim of individual subjects taught is not merely the attainment of knowledge but the acquisition of values and the discovery of truth.” (CS 39) 

“The cultural heritage of mankind includes other values apart from the specific ambient of truth. When the Christian teacher helps a pupil to grasp, appreciate and assimilate these values, he is guiding him towards eternal realities.” (CS 42)

“The fundamental aim of teaching is the assimilation of objective values, and, when this is undertaken for an apostolic purpose, it does not stop at an integration of faith and culture but leads the pupil on to a personal integration of faith and life.” (CS 44) 

Scout Law and Gospel Values

“ A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.”

Here are examples of some elaborations in four places that can be adapted to Scout Law. Besides the last point, Reverent, these four points seem to be fitting attributes of Duty to God. This is not intended as proposing changes in the official statement, but as explanation of the scout law from Catholic point of view. The last one, “Reverent” solely attributes as duty to God and religious belief, whereas all virtues of scout law should be viewed and explained as Gospel Values. The Gospel Values of scout law should expounded with Gospel passages with which all scout activities should be imbued.

faith truth reflection / prayer conscience / discernment / courage freedom joy  respect / dignity humility honesty / righteousness simplicity / sufficiency love compassion gratitude work / duty service justice peace / reconciliation forgiveness unity / community wonder / conservation hope

A Scout is Trustworthy: A Scout is trustworthy in the eyes of God. He tells the truth. He keeps his promises. Honesty is part of his code of conduct. People can depend on him.

A Scout is Loyal: A Scout is true to God, his family, Scout leaders, friends, school, and nation.

A Scout is Helpful: A Scout is concerned about other people. He does things willingly for others without pay or reward.

A Scout is Friendly: A Scout is a friend to all. He is a brother to other Scouts. He seeks to understand others. He respects those with ideas and customs other than his own.

A Scout is Courteous: A Scout is polite to everyone regardless of age or position. He knows good manners make it easier for people to get along together.

A Scout is Kind: A Scout understands there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated. He does not hurt or kill harmless things without reason.

A Scout is Obedient: A Scout follows the law of God, the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, he tries to have them changed in an orderly manner rather than disobey them.

A Scout is Cheerful: A Scout looks for the bright side of things. He cheerfully does tasks that come his way. He tries to make others happy.

A Scout is Thrifty: A Scout works to pay his way and to help others. He saves for unforeseen needs. He protects and conserves natural resources. He carefully uses time and property.

A Scout is Brave: A Scout can face danger even if he is afraid. He has the courage to stand for what he thinks is right even if others laugh at or threaten him.

A Scout is Clean: A Scout keeps his body, mind, and soul fit and clean. He goes around with those who believe in living by these same ideals. He helps keep his home and community clean.

A Scout is Reverent: A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others.

Five Essential Marks of Catholic Schools

Archbishop Michael Miller, former Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Schools, has penned a “must-read” book for all Catholic educators. “The Holy See's Teaching on Catholic Schools” (2006) faithfully summarizes the last fifty years of Magisterial documents on the Catholic school. In this book he described the Five Essential Marks of Catholic Schools as followed.

1. Inspired by a Supernatural Vision

The enduring foundation on which the Church builds her educational philosophy is the conviction that it is a process which forms the whole child, especially with his or her eyes fixed on the vision of God. The specific purpose of a Catholic education is the formation of boys and girls who will be good citizens of this world, enriching society with the leaven of the Gospel, but who will also be citizens of the world to come. Catholic schools have a straightforward goal: to foster the growth of good Catholic human beings who love God and neighbor and thus fulfill their destiny of becoming saints.

An emphasis on the inalienable dignity of the human person – above all on his or her spiritual dimension – is especially necessary today. Unfortunately, far too many in government, business, the media, and even the educational establishment perceive education to be merely an instrument for the acquisition of information that will improve the chances of worldly success and a more comfortable standard of living. Such an impoverished vision of education is not Catholic. 

2. Founded on a Christian Anthropology

The Holy See's documents insist that, to be worthy of its name, a Catholic school must be founded on Jesus Christ the Redeemer who, through his Incarnation, is united with each student. Christ is not an after-thought or an add-on to Catholic educational philosophy but the center and fulcrum of the entire enterprise, the light enlightening every pupil who comes into our schools.

Repeatedly the Holy See's documents emphasize the need for an educational philosophy built on a correct understanding of who the human person is. In today's pluralistic world, the Catholic educator must consciously inspire his or her activity with the Christian concept of the person, in communion with the Magisterium of the Church. It is a concept which includes a defense of human rights, but also attributes to the human person the dignity of a child of God. It calls for the fullest development of all that is human, because we have been made masters of the world by its Creator. Finally, it proposes Christ, Incarnate Son of God and perfect Man, as both model and means; to imitate him is, for all men and women, the inexhaustible source of personal and communal perfection.

3. Animated by Communion and Community

A third important teaching on Catholic schools that has emerged in the Holy See's documents in recent years is its emphasis on the community aspect of the Catholic school, a dimension rooted both in the social nature of the human person and the reality the Church as a "the home and the school of communion." That the Catholic school is an educational community "is one of the most enriching developments for the contemporary school.

The Holy See describes the school as a community in four areas: the teamwork among all those involved; the cooperation between educators and bishops; the interaction of students with teachers; and the school's physical environment.

4. Imbued with a Catholic Worldview

Catholicism should permeate not just the class period of catechism or religious education, or the school's pastoral activities, but the entire curriculum. The Vatican documents speak of “an integral education, an education which responds to all the needs of the human person.”

    4.1 Search for Wisdom and Truth

In an age of information overload, Catholic schools must be especially attentive to the delicate balance between human experience and understanding. In the words of T.S. Eliot, we do not want our students to say: “We had the experience but missed the meaning.”

The greatest challenge to Catholic education today is to restore to that culture the conviction that human beings can grasp the truth of things, and in grasping that truth can know their duties to God, to themselves and their neighbors.

     4.2 Faith, Culture and Life

From the nature of the Catholic school also stems one of the most significant elements of its educational project: the synthesis of culture and faith. The endeavor to interweave reason and faith, which has become the heart of individual subjects, makes for unity, articulation and coordination, bringing forth within what is learnt in a school a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture and of history.

5. Sustained by the Witness of Teaching

A final indicator of a school's authentic catholicity is the vital witness of its teachers and administrators. Indeed, “it depends chiefly on them whether the Catholic school achieves its purpose.” Consequently the Holy See's documents pay a great deal of attention to the vocation of teachers and their participation in the Church's evangelizing mission.

The careful hiring of men and women who enthusiastically endorse a Catholic ethos is the primary way to foster a school's catholicity. The reason for such concern about teachers is straightforward. Catholic education is strengthened by its “martyrs.”

As well as fostering a Catholic worldview across the curriculum, “if students in Catholic schools are to gain a genuine experience of the Church, the example of teachers and others responsible for their formation is crucial: the witness of adults in the school community is a vital part of the school's identity.”

Students will pick up far more by the example of their educators than by masterful pedagogical techniques, especially in the practice of Christian virtues. Catholic educators are expected to be models for their students by bearing transparent witness to Christ and to the beauty of the gospel.

Five Essential Marks of Catholic Scouting

Five essential marks of Catholic education in general must hold even more so to be true to Catholic scouting. It is critical for scout leaders to reflect and ask themselves: Are our scout activities inspired by supernatural vision? Are our scout activities founded on a Christian anthropology? Are our scout activities animated by communion and community? Are our scout activities imbued with a Catholic worldview? Are our scout activities sustained by the witness of teaching?

Catholic scouting must foster the growth of good Catholic human beings who love God and neighbor and thus fulfill their destiny of becoming saints. It must defend human rights, attribute to the human person the dignity of a child of God, calling for the fullest development of all that is human. It must propose Christ as both model and means for perfection. It must be the home and the school of communion. It must help scouts to grasp the truth of things, and in grasping that truth can know their duties to God, to themselves and their neighbors. It must help scouts to inculcate a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture and of history. And most importantly the scout leaders must themselves set examples in the practice of scout law and Christian virtues.

Christian Process of Formation           

“The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School” extensively elaborates on the Christian process of formation. 

“A Christian formation process might therefore be described as an organic set of elements with a single purpose: the gradual development of every capability of every student, enabling each one to attain an integral formation within a context that includes the Christian religious dimension and recognizes the help of grace... This reality will be assured only if all the teachers unite their educational efforts in the pursuit of a common goal.” (RD 99)

“Christian process of formation is, therefore, the result of a constant interaction involving the expert labour of the teachers, the free cooperation of the students, and the help of grace.” (RD 107) 

“In pedagogical circles,... great stress is put on the climate of a school: the sum total of the different components at work in the school which interact with one another in such a way as to create favourable conditions for a formation process.” (RD 24) 

“The formation process has both a horizontal and a vertical dimension, and it is this qualification that makes the Catholic school distinctive from those other schools whose educational objectives are not inspired by Christianity.” (RD 109) 

“The teachers love their students, and they show this love in the way they interact with them. They take advantage of every opportunity to encourage and strengthen them in those areas which will help to achieve the goals of the educational process. When students feel loved, they will love in return. Their trust, their critical observations... will enrich the teachers and also help to facilitate a shared commitment to the formation process.” (RD 110) 

“There is also a continuous vertical interaction, through prayer; this is the fullest and most complete expression of the religious dimension. Teachers will pray for each of them, that the grace present may permeate their whole person, helping them to respond adequately to all that is demanded of them in order to live Christian lives. And the students will learn that they must pray for their teachers...They will pray that the educational gifts of their teachers may be more effective,..that grace may sustain their dedication and bring them peace in their work.” (RD 111) 

“In a Catholic school a student ought to have the impression of an environment illumined by the light of faith, and having its own unique characteristics, an environment permeated with the Gospel spirit of love and freedom.” (RD 25)

“Thus a relationship is built up which is both human and divine; there is a flow of love, and also of grace. And this will make the Catholic school truly authentic.” (RD 112) 

In pursuing the Christian formation of the scouts Catholic scouting must therefore have a distinctive “vertical dimension”, God’s dimension. Prayer must necessarily be the tangible ambient of all scout activities. It seeks to foster the spirit of freedom, of love and of grace. And this will make the Catholic scouting truly authentic.

V. The ultimate goal of Catholic Scouting 

A Model of Catholic Education 

A Model of Catholic Education views Catholic eduction as Reflective, Transformative, Values-based  and Virtues-oriented Education.

Catholic education is reflective because it must assist young people “who are searching for a deeper understanding of their religion; as they reflect on the real meaning of life they begin to find answers to their questions in the Gospel” (RD 18). It strives for “a methodology of study…that trains for reflection and discernment. It takes the form of a strategy that cultivates in the person…an inner life as the place to listen to the voice of God, cultivate the meaning of the sacred, decide to follow values” (CP 53). Instrumentum Laboris, “Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion” states, “It is important for schooling to enhance not only skills that are related to knowing and knowing how to do things, but also skills that apply to living alongside others and growing as human beings. These are reflective skills, for instance,... decision-making, citizenship skills, that are becoming increasingly important in our globalized world and affect us directly, as is the case with skills related to consciousness, critical thinking and creative and transforming action.

Catholic education is transformative as the Instrumentum Laboris continues to explain: “Education must guide students to face reality, to enter the world with a sense of awareness and responsibility and, in order for this to happen, knowledge acquisition is always necessary. However, the real expected result is not the acquisition of information or knowledge but, rather, personal transformation. 

Catholic education is values-based because “a school is not only a place where one is given a choice of intellectual values, but a  place where one has presented an array of values which are actively lived. The school must be a community whose values are communicated.”  (CS 32) “Christ is the foundation of the whole educational enterprise in a Catholic school. His revelation gives new meaning to life and helps man to direct his thought, action and will according to the Gospel... The fact that in their own individual ways all members of the school community share this Christian vision, makes the school “Catholic”; principles of the Gospel in this manner become the educational norms since the school then has them as its internal motivation and final goal.” (CS 34) “The Catholic school is committed thus to the development of the whole man, since in Christ, the Perfect Man, all human values find their fulfillment and unity. Herein lies the specifically Catholic character of the school. (CS 35)

Lastly, Catholic education is virtues-oriented. While “religious values and motivation are cultivated in all subject areas and, indeed, in all of the various activities going on in the school, one way that teachers can encourage an understanding of and commitment to religious values is by frequent references to God... But every true educator knows that a further step is necessary: values must lead to action; they are the motivation for action.” (RD 107)

It is clear therefore that this model of Catholic education effectuates the full-fledged definition of education of Saint Thomas: Catholic education is “the forming of ‘new man’ up to the point of virtue.” Catholic scouting too strives for the forming of scouts up to to point of virtue, the Scout Law. Scout leaders shall unweariedly invite each and every scout to reflect in each activity which virtues from the Scout Law the are going to apply.

In conclusion, all our scout activities must invite scouts to reflect (Head). When the reflection reaches the level of critical reflection then it begins to transform scouts up to the level of values (Heart), none other than Gospel values. The culminating point is of course when it transforms scouts up to the point of virtue, meaning to say when scouts put those values into practice (Hands).

Head-Heart-Hands Scouting

Rumer Godden, in her book, “A House with Four Rooms”, described, “There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.”

When a Pharisee asked Jesus Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your HEART, and with all your SOUL, and with all your MIND.’ ” (Mt 22: 37)

St. Thomas said, “Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe (HEAD); to know what he ought to desire (HEART); and to know what he ought to do (HANDS).” 

Catholic scouting is all about what scouts ought to believe: loving God with all our mind (HEAD); what scouts ought to desire: loving God with all our heart (HEART); and what scouts ought to do: loving God with all our soul (HANDS).

The Ultimate goal of Catholic Education

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia stated in a 2014 pastoral letter, “Equipping Saints: A Pastoral Letter on Catholic Education and Faith Formation” that the goal of Catholic education is “to equip saints for life in this world and the next.” Archbishop Chaput emphasized the importance of having teachers “who are not merely professionally skilled… but also deeply committed to Christian virtue and Catholic faith…Catholic education is not about being ‘socially useful.’ Nor is it about good ‘values.’ The values language of social science is too thin to satisfy the human soul, and too bland for the people of Christian character and courage God wants us to be. Catholic education is about making saints; about growing the seeds of virtue and truth. Anything less cheats our students of their dignity.”

“The Catholic School” makes it clear that “the specific mission of the school is a critical, systematic transmission of culture in the light of faith and the bringing forth of the power of Christian virtue by the integration of culture with faith and of faith with living.” (CS 49)

Thomas thinks it is clear that a human being really has only one ultimate end. This is because the ultimate end is more than simply something we seek merely for its own sake; it is something such that all by itself it entirely satisfies one’s desire. This one ultimate goal of human life is “happiness”. Thomas is a moral perfectionist in the sense that the means to human happiness comes not by way of merely good human actions, but by way of perfect or virtuous moral actions. Thomas thinks virtuous human actions are actions that perfect the human agent that performs them, that is, good human actions are actions that conduce to happiness for the agent that performs them.

“Gravissimum Educationis” states, “All men of every race, condition and age, since they enjoy the dignity of a human being, have an inalienable right to an education that is in keeping with their ultimate goal.” (GV 1) What is the one ultimate goal of a human being? Baltimore catechism gives the same answer of St. Thomas: “By the end of man we mean the purpose for which he was created: namely, to know, to love, and to serve God in this world, and to be happy with Him in the next.”   

Only when we return God’s dimension to Catholic scouting, then the goal has been reached. The ultimate goal of Catholic scouting cannot be just character building. It needs to go further: “Catholic scouting is about making saints; about growing the seeds of virtue and truth. Anything less cheats our scouts of their dignity.”

On the centenary of Fatima apparitions, we are attentive to Blessed Virgin’s admonition for individual souls to stop sinning and return to God, as God is being grievously offended, and also to Her admonition that rosary is the key to world peace. Catholic scouting must also respond to Her request that Her children live “the spirituality of reparation” and thus reach the ultimate goal of their lives.