{"id":44289,"date":"2015-07-01T13:24:41","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T17:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=44289"},"modified":"2015-07-01T13:24:41","modified_gmt":"2015-07-01T17:24:41","slug":"girl-scouts-meet-with-pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/girl-scouts-meet-with-pope-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Girl Scouts Meet With Pope Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"02305_26062015\"<\/a>
Girl Scout Catherine Riordan with Pope Francis courtesy of \u201cL\u2019Isservatore Romano\u201d SCV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Originally published on EdenKeeper.org<\/a><\/p>\n

On the day of the Epiphany in 1965, twenty-one\u00a0Girl Guide associations established the\u00a0International Catholic Conference of Guiding<\/a> (ICCG). It was a time of radical change around the world \u2014 from the Vietnam War, to civil rights movements, to a growing environmental awareness \u2014 there was a sense that things were shifting. And, within the Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council was developing to fit within this changing world.<\/p>\n

This year, ICCG is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a gathering of over 200 representatives from Member Organizations from around the world. The meeting, which is being held in Rome, is coming at another time of change for the Catholic Church and the world \u2014 a time when the faith and dedication of Girl Scouts is critically needed.<\/p>\n

Girl Scouts Make the World a Better Place<\/h3>\n

The Girl Scouts\u2019 mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. It\u00a0was founded over 100 years ago in Savannah, Georgia by\u00a0Juliette \u201cDaisy\u201d Gordon Low<\/a>, who brought girls of all backgrounds into the \u201cout-of-doors,\u201d giving them the opportunity to develop self-reliance and resourcefulness.\u00a0Active citizenship outside the home was \u2014 and still is \u2014 a key feature of Girl Scouts.<\/p>\n

For many, active citizenship involves environmentalism<\/a>. Many former Girls Scouts remember camping trips as a highlight of their experience, and identify\u00a0\u201cexposure to nature\u201d as a main benefit of the organization. These experiences translate into a deeper understanding of our connection to nature. As a 10-year-old Girl Scout from Massachusetts described her experience with Girl Scouts, \u201cI got to learn how I can really make a difference in the ecosystem by just taking small steps and being a team player in my troop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faith-Based Citizenship and Activism<\/h3>\n

At the heart of Girl Scouting is the Girl Scout Promise and Law, which includes an oath and promise to serve God. The relationship between faith and citizenship has led many\u00a0Girl Scouts to partner\u00a0with organizations of all faiths to address issues of concern, like environmental clean up and education projects in their communities. In fact, many girls implement their Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award projects in partnership with their local parishes, temples, mosques, and other places of worship.<\/p>\n

Although Girl Scouts is open to all faiths, the organization has had a long relationship with the Catholic Church. In 1924, Catholic girls from Girl Scouts of Greater New York Council sent Pope Pious XI a spiritual bouquet and ten-thousand lire, and in 1960 Girl Scout representatives had an audience with Pope John XXIII. The Girl Scouts have also received apostolic blessings from Popes Pious XI and Paul VI.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis Meets With Girl Scout Leaders<\/h3>\n

This year, Pope Francis is showing his support for the Girl Scouts. He held an audience with Girl Scout leaders Anna Maria Chavez and Kathy Hopinkah Hannan of Girls Scouts of the USA, and will speak at the ICCG event to encourage and recognize the leaders from around the world who are dedicated to helping girls explore their faith through Girl Scouting.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaith is at the heart of Girl Scouts, and is woven into everything the organization does to inspire girls to take action to make the world a better place,\u201d said Chavez.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Girl Scouts, faith unifies us an inspires us to take care of each other and the world around us,\u201d said Hannan. \u201cOur visit to Rome to engage with ICCG and Pope Francis exemplifies Girl Scouts\u2019 inclusive culture that embraces all faiths and cultures, and reflects our commitment to encouraging girls to enter their own faith journey to find inspiration and meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis\u2019 Message Realized Through Girl Scouts<\/h3>\n

Like the year of its founding, the 50th anniversary of the ICCG is happening at a time of change in the world and in the Catholic Church. Overconsumption is causing pollution and\u00a0mass extinction<\/a>. Our reliance on outdated energy sources is causing severe storms,\u00a0flooding<\/a>, droughts, rising sea levels, and loss of life. And our increased obsession with technology is separating us from our natural world.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, Pope Francis released an encyclical called \u201cPraised Be: On Care for Our Common Home<\/a>,\u201d calling on us \u2014 Catholics and non-Catholics \u2014 to change our relationship with the Earth and those around us. He noted that \u201cyoung people demand change\u201d and urged us to consider the debris, desolation, and filth we are leaving for them.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis\u2019\u00a0support and involvement with organizations like the Girl Scouts speaks to his hope in today\u2019s youth. Through their promise to serve God, their work to build tomorrow\u2019s female leaders,\u00a0and their love of the natural world, Girl Scouts have an important role to play in helping us all build a better world.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with all the most interesting green news on the planet by subscribing to our (free) Planetsave newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally published on EdenKeeper.org On the day of the Epiphany in 1965, twenty-one\u00a0Girl Guide associations established the\u00a0International Catholic Conference of Guiding (ICCG). It was a time of radical change around the world \u2014 from the Vietnam War, to civil rights movements, to a growing environmental awareness \u2014 there was a sense that things were shifting. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":188,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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It was a time of radical change around the world \u2014 from the Vietnam War, to civil rights movements, to a growing environmental awareness \u2014 there was a sense that things were shifting.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}