Over 35,000 scouts aged between 16 and 21, a thousand heads, a conspicuous international delegation, very many ecclesiastical assistants and representatives of government institutions and civil society. These are some of the numbers that describe the national route that took place in San Rossore (Pisa) from 7 to 10 August on this year and which ended with a great celebration of the Eucharist and a ‘surprise’ telephone call from Pope Francis who invited the young people to continue on the ‘roads of courage…towards the future’ – the theme of this national meeting.

In this sea of tents, generosity and commitment the Camillians, through the Camillian Task Force, were called to animate three laboratories on the subject of the relationship between ‘natural disasters and social justice’. The Camillian Task Force involved over a hundred scouts from the whole of Italy in fifteen hours of shared thought and reflection. The wish to engage in new but also very up-to-date pathways of reflection was tangible and produced excellent results in terms of assessment but also possible  commitment. The laboratories were flanked by meetings of a national and international character whose principal aim was to create the conditions for a stronger strategic alliance of cohesive planning between associations of scouts and the great Camillian family and in particular the Camillian Task Force, at a national and international level. It was jointly agreed to meet each other again soon in order to try to imagine shared work scenarios, staring with the ‘Charter of Courage’ (the final document) which will be the outcome of this pathway  (http://www.routenazionale.it/)

Marco Iazzolino

Look here at the photographic gallery

Look here at the press information