Éclaireurs Neutres de France
Encyclopedia
The Éclaireurs Neutres de France (Neutral (= interreligious) Scouts of France, ENF) is a non-aligned French
Scouting
association, founded in 1947 by Marcel Lepage and serving 3,000 to 4,000 members of both genders.
The association has no political or religious involvement and is open to all without distinction of religion or race and respects the convictions of everyone. ENF is not a coeducational or mixed organisation although coeducation is accepted for the Cub Scouts, it has two distinct sections for girls and boys.
association, the Éclaireurs de France
. The ENF claims on their website that this would be a statement in contradiction with its founding principles of openness and mutual respect.
Although, initially a traditional Scouting association, it has evolved to adapt itself to modern life and standards of health and safety imposed by French Ministry of Youth and Sports, from which it has an official approval.
.
Since 2000 a number of smaller associations joined the ENF for official approval, some of them religious:
Thus the association has changed from a single organization to a kind of federation of differing Scouting organizations with different spiritual backgrounds which is unique for French Scouting.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
association, founded in 1947 by Marcel Lepage and serving 3,000 to 4,000 members of both genders.
The association has no political or religious involvement and is open to all without distinction of religion or race and respects the convictions of everyone. ENF is not a coeducational or mixed organisation although coeducation is accepted for the Cub Scouts, it has two distinct sections for girls and boys.
History
Some sources argue that the ENF is a spinoff from another French ScoutingScouting in France
The Scout movement in France consists of about 80 different associations and federations with about 180,000 Scouts and Girl Guides. Next to Germany, France is the country with the most fragmented Scout movement....
association, the Éclaireurs de France
Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs de France
Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs de France is an interreligious and coeducational Scouting and Guiding association in France. The first interreligious Scouting groups in France were founded in 1911, and interreligious Guiding started in 1914; both movements merged in 1964 forming the EEdF...
. The ENF claims on their website that this would be a statement in contradiction with its founding principles of openness and mutual respect.
Although, initially a traditional Scouting association, it has evolved to adapt itself to modern life and standards of health and safety imposed by French Ministry of Youth and Sports, from which it has an official approval.
Memberships and affiliations
On the national level, the association is a member of the Conférence Française de ScoutismeConférence Française de Scoutisme
The Conférence Française de Scoutisme is a French Scouting federation, founded in 2000 and serving about 35,000 members of both genders...
.
Since 2000 a number of smaller associations joined the ENF for official approval, some of them religious:
- Europa Scouts (CatholicRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
) - Scouts et Guides Saint Louis (Catholic)
- Scouts et Guides de Riaumont (Traditionalist CatholicTraditionalist CatholicTraditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council...
, with connections to the Priestly Fraternity of St. PeterPriestly Fraternity of St. PeterThe Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is a traditionalist Catholic Society of Apostolic Life of priests and seminarians in good standing with the Holy See.-Canonical status:...
).
Thus the association has changed from a single organization to a kind of federation of differing Scouting organizations with different spiritual backgrounds which is unique for French Scouting.
Sections
The association is organised in three age branches:- ages 8 to 11: The pack (Cubs), light blue shirt, dark blue short and beretBeretA beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber....
with the cub insignia - ages 12 to 16: The troop (ScoutsBoy ScoutA Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
), khaki shirt, dark blue short or trousers and brown smokey-bear hatCampaign hatA campaign cover is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners .It is associated with the New Zealand Army, the Royal Canadian...
for boys, white shirt and dark blue smokey-bear hatCampaign hatA campaign cover is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners .It is associated with the New Zealand Army, the Royal Canadian...
for girls - ages 17 and onwards: The clan (RoversRover ScoutsRover Scouting is a service division of Scouting for young men, and in most countries, women. A group of Rovers, analogous to a Scout troop, is called a 'Crew.'...
), dark blue shirt for boys and same as Scouts for girls, the tie is a tartanTartanTartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns...