Monks, Scouts and Problem Kids: The Institute of Riaumontby Simon Nestor St. Ignatius Loyola said 'Give me the boy and I'll show you the man' and in another place 'Pray as if everything depended on God, work as if everything depended on you'. In the 21st century, the monks of Riaumont apply both these principles simultaneously while operating a reformatory which could probably described as "Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice-meets-Father Edward Flanagan". When speaking of scouting (scoutisme) in France, it is very hard to ignore the contribution made by the Scouts de Riaumont, founded in 1960 by the late Pere Albert Revet, a priest of the diocese of Arras in the far north of France and a life-long scout.  Scout troop leaves Riaumont The scout troop which he founded has stood as an example to the rest of Europe, if not the world, as to how to produce Catholic boyscouts in an era when they are encouraged to be anything but that. Riaumont is a wooded district of the town of Lievin, quite near the city of Lens and not far from the Belgian border. Alsace and Lorraine lie to the east. Riaumont - or, as it is commonly and affectionately known, Le village des enfants de Riaumont, is first and foremost a reformatory for boys from a disfunctional or deprived background. The Government of France effectively washes its hands of these problem kids and hands them over to the monks of Riaumont, though the government does subsidise the work of the reformatory to a certain extent.  The Salle d'Honneur The other unusual feature of life at Riaumont is that it is run by monks who are members of the Religious Institute of the Holy Cross of Riaumont. These monks, dressed from head to toe in a khaki habit, with boots and a standard military haircut, take up the challenge of turning the boys into strong, upright Christian men. They are be a familiar sight to anyone who has done the annual Pentecost pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres. In the village of Riaumont, the boys are turned into scouts in the traditional Catholic style which was prevalent throughout Europe in the 1930's until the Hitlerjugend dealt the movement a killer blow. Hitler's youth movement tarnished the scout movement for the masses. This contrived and bigoted attitude lives on even today in the French media which tries to label the Scouts de Riaumont as fascist and barbarian.  Aerial view of the village
The scouts and monks of Riaumont and their dedicated teaching staff can teach us a thing or two about catechesis. To become a professed boyscout, youths must make la promesse which is equivalent to the investiture which scouts receive in these islands. The promesse can only be made once the scout has been rigourously tested in scout-craft and - most importantly - his knowledge of the Catechism. They must also be able to serve the Tridentine Rite of Mass. The boys of Riaumont want nothing more than to become scouts and are diligent in learning the Catechism and their craft. On any day, boys can be seen sitting with one of the staff or monks undergoing a thorough grilling in the Faith. Should we not now follow Riaumont's lead? (Simon Nestor spent the summer of 2000 in Riaumont learning French and observed the work of the monks while attending scout camps).  ...at Riaumont's farm
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