St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson Delivers Mass To Scouts

What began with a scare Friday morning came to a "stirring" conclusion about 50 hours later. The Boy Scouts' "Scout Quest 100" in Forest Park, ended with a mass at the Muny with St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson. The mass stirred memories of the papal youth rally in 1999, during Pope John Paul II's visit to St. Louis.

A sea of boy scouts filling the Muny. "This was amazing to see: so many young people, scouts, attending a worship service at a very unusual place - the Muny Opera," said Joe Mueller of the Boy Scouts of Great St. Louis. "You get a great sense of the young church," Carlson said. "Obviously the 5,000- 7,000 people who were here today, have had a very positive experience with the church."

"When you look at reaching out and touching young people's hearts through faith development and formation, Archbishop Carlson just hit all the right buttons today," Mueller said. The scouts presented the archbishop with St. George emblem.St. George is the patron saint of scouting.


"Obvisouly, like each one of you I'm blessed by my participation in scouting," the Achbishop told the scouts. "I pray that it continues to grow strong here in the archdiocese of st. louis and far beyond." There is good reason the Archbishop struck such a cord. What most of St. Louis may not know is that the archbishop has what you could call "scout cred"; when it comes to boy scouting, he's been there. "I've been involved in scouting since cub scouts," he said.

He is a "Life Scout"; a few badges away from "Eagle". He now presides over the only diocese in the u-s, with an office just for catholic scouting. "Years ago, I was a cooking merit badge counselor," he said. "God only know why I had that great honor. So I used that image of having the fire 'just right' [with the scouts during mass] to get their attention. We had lots of kids who got a cooking merit badge. Only one said he was a gourmet, but he had the courage to stand up," Carlson smiled.

"I've been to a lot of masses and a lot of campouts. I don't think I'll forget this one," Mueller beamed. The Acrchbishop may just make Eagle Scout, yet. A scout leader and his family found a woman tied up in the park while preparing for the Scout Quest, Friday. Police were still investigating whether that woman, found partially nude and tied up, was the victim of a crime; police saying her initial story had changed.