World Youth Day
in Sydney, Australia

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Pope Benedict XVI waves to pilgrims during a ceremony to thank World Youth Day volunteers
(PA Photos)

World Youth Day is making waves
24 July 2008

The Pope and the pilgrims have dispersed, and Sydneysiders return to their daily routine now that World Youth Day has finished. The last week's events have left an overwhelmingly positive impression, both in the Australian media, which had at first been sceptical and focused on clerical sexual abuse, and on the young people returning home. If all goes well the seeds that were planted by Pope Benedict's words, by the young people's confessions, by the catechesis, the Masses and their peers, will grow and bear fruit.

Sydney's Cardinal George Pell wrote in his weekly Australian Sunday Telegraph column that it is a good time to be a Catholic. "Tens of thousands of happy young people make the rest of the population happy too".

"We've accommodated 120,000 pilgrims in our schools, parishes, homes and other venues and served 3.5 million meals across around 400 venues," said Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, after the events. "Although only a week in duration, World Youth Day will resonate in Australian hearts for a long time to come and will forever be remembered in the lives of the young pilgrims."

Australia's newspapers have alternately been surprised that so many young people could be in one place without getting rowdy, drinking or doing drugs and triumphantly saying that the events did not draw quite as many people as had originally been expected. Despite the criticism, the 23rd World Youth Day has been hailed as "a new outpouring of faith" and "a Catholic renewal". According to an Australian Daily Telegraph poll, Sydneysiders have been impressed and made happy by the 220,000 odd young people filling their streets. The general goodwill was noticeable too in the reception of the pilgrims. According to some of the young British pilgrims, out-of-service bus drivers were volunteering lifts for the weary youngsters after the final Mass last Sunday, while others were plying them with Veggiemite and offering cups of tea.

In North Sydney the Sisters of St Joseph are expecting a spike in baptisms this year. Since the Pope's visit they have seen a marked increase in the number of people telephoning up asking about baptism for their children. The Shrine for Blessed Mary MacKillop has had visitors flocking to it. Local newspapers around the world are full of stories of returning pilgrims, touched by the encounter with Pope Benedict, revved up by their experiences and ready to "bring the world to Christ".

A six-year-old boy who had travelled to Sydney with his parents and met the Pope, said: "He looked really good and he was wearing red, white and a white hat. He looked happy too."

On a bitter-sweet note, Senior Constable Gary Hill, the terminally ill policeman whose dying wish to meet the Pope had been fulfilled, lost his battle with cancer on July 20, only four days after Holy Father came to bless him.

The Pope, who is now resting in Castel Gandolfo after the longest journey of his papacy, left Australia on Monday after meeting the volunteers who helped make World Youth Day happen. He thanked them for their work and said: "Your efforts have prepared the ground for the Spirit to come down in power, forging bonds of unity and friendship among young people from widely differing backgrounds, and rekindling their love for Jesus Christ and his Church.

"In the crowds that have assembled here in Sydney we have seen a vivid expression of the unity-in-diversity of the universal Church, a vision in microcosm of the united human family that we long to see. In the power of the Spirit, may these young people make that vision a reality in the world of tomorrow."

Pope Benedict thanked pilgrims and Australians for their part in the "great celebration of what it is to be the Church" as he said his final farewells on the tarmac of Sydney's International Airport.

Having said that he enjoyed the visit to Australia and expressed his gratitude, the Pope thanked Australians for having welcomed both him and the pilgrims from around the world during the World Youth Day celebrations. He extended a special thanks to the families in Australia and New Zealand who had hosted the young people during their stay Down Under.

He said: "You have opened your doors and your hearts to the world's youth, and on their behalf I thank you."

During the speech on the tarmac before he boarded the plane, Pope Benedict praised the young people themselves, whom he called the "principal actors on the stage".

Benedict XVI said: "It is they who have made this a global ecclesial event, a great celebration of youth and a great celebration of what it is to be the Church, the people of God throughout the world, united in faith and love and empowered by the Spirit to bear witness to the risen Christ to the ends of the earth. I thank them for coming.

"I thank them for their participation, and I pray that they will have a safe journey home. I know that the young people, their families and their sponsors have in many cases made great sacrifices to enable them to travel to Australia. For this the entire Church is grateful."

The experiences of prayer and the "joyful celebration of the Eucharist" , he said bore "eloquent testimony to the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, present and active in the hearts of our young people."

Pope Benedict said: "World Youth Day has shown us that the Church can rejoice in the young people of today and be filled with hope for the world of tomorrow."

Pope speaks to abuse victims
21 July 2008

Pope Benedict XVI met with victims of clerical sexual abuse this morning in a gesture of reparation before leaving Australia.

The Holy Father celebrated Mass with a representative group of those who had been abused by members of the clergy “as an expression of his ongoing pastoral concern”. Although there are no reports of the private meeting that went on between the Pope and the victims afterwards, the Vatican issued a statement which said that Benedict XVI had “listened to their stories and offered them consolation”.

It said: “Assuring them of his spiritual closeness, he promised to continue to pray for them, their families and all victims. Through this paternal gesture, the Holy Father wished to demonstrate again his deep concern for all those who have suffered sexual abuse.”

During a Mass for seminarians and young religious the Pope gave a public and forthright apology for the sexual abuse, expressing sorrow and condemnation and describing it as evil.

His meeting this morning with the victims was planned for the end of the papal visit to Australia in order not to overshadow the World Youth Day events, but criticism over the Church’s handling of the sexual abuse cases has predominated the mainstream media’s coverage of the celebrations.

Full text of the Holy Father's homily
21 July 2008

For the full text of the Holy Father's homily in the final Mass at Randwick Racecourse on Sunday, click here

Pope Benedict censing the altar during the Final Mass at Randwick Racecourse
(PA Photos)

Pope Benedict celebrates the final Mass at World Youth Day
20 July 2008

Pope Benedict XVI expressed his hope that the 23rd World Youth Day would act as a new upper room from which the young pilgrims would leave filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit ready to proclaim the risen Christ.

Speaking to the young pilgrims from around the world at the Papal "final" Mass which was the culmination of the World Youth Day events today, Pope Benedict called upon the young to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit and be like the Apostles at Pentecost.

As sunlight streamed down on the hundreds of thousands of youngsters who have spent the week in Sydney-EWTN estimated some 600,000 souls-the Holy Father said that the days in Australia had shown the Church as it really is.

He said: "Our eyes have been open to see the world all around us truly as the poet says charged with the grandeur of God filled with the glory of his creative Love. Here too, in the presence of young Christians from all over the world we have a living experience of the Spirit's presence and power in the life of the church.

"We have seen the church for the one thing she truly is: the body of Christ, a living community of love, embracing people of every race, nation and country of every time and place in the unity borne of our faith in the risen Lord.

"The power of the spirit never ceases to fill the Church with life. Through the grace of the Church's sacraments the power also flows deep within us like an underground river which nourishes our spirit ...and to the source of our true life which is Christ."

Emphasising the importance of daily prayer he said that the Grace of the Spirit was not something that could be merited or achieved but that we can "only receive as pure gift. "

He said: "God's love can only unleash its power when he is allowed to change us from within. We have to let it to break through the hard crust of our indifference .. our blind conformity to the spirit of this age. Only then can we let it ignite our imagination and shape our deepest desires."

Speaking of the martyrs and missionaries who had given their lives to transmitting the faith, he asked the young people what they were passing on to the next generation.

Pope Benedict asked: "Are you building your lives on strong foundations, on something that will endure? Are you building your lives in a way that opens up space for the spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, rejects him in the name of a falsely conceived freedom? How are you using the gifts you have been given, the power which the Holy Spirit is even now prepared to represent within you?

"What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make?

"The power of the Holy Spirit does not only enlighten us and console us, it also points us towards the future, to the coming of God's Kingdom. For the magnificent vision of humanity redeemed and renewed we see in the new age promised by today's Gospel. "St Luke tells us that Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of all God's promises, the Messiah who fully confesses the Holy Spirit in order to bestow the gift upon on all mankind. It is the outpouring of Christ's spirit on all humanity is a bridge of hope and deliverance from everything that impoverishes us.

"It gives the blind new sight, it sets the downtrodden free, it gives unity in and thru diversity. This power can create a new world it can renew the fires of the earth..."

A new generation of young Christians is being called to build the new age, Pope Benedict said.

The Holy Father said: "The world needs this renewal. In so many of our societies, side-by-side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is breeding an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair.

"How many of our contemporaries have filled broken and empty systems in a desperate search for meaning, the ultimate meaning that only love can give and this is the great and liberating gift that the Gospel brings. It reveals our dignity as men and women created in the image and likeness of God. It reveals humanity's sublime calling which is to find fulfilment in love. It is close to the truth about men and about life.

"The Church also needs renewal. She needs your faith, your idealism, your generosity so that she can always be young in the Spirit."

After the Holy Father's homily, the pilgrims at the racecourse fell silent for a few minutes, before the Pope presented the Sacrament of Confirmation on 24 young catechumens from around the world.

During the Mass, which was celebrated in a number of languages, including Latin, the Pope prayed the Angelus, reminding the young people of Our Lady's great affirmation of Christ on behalf of all of humanity.

At the end of the Mass the Pope announced that the next World Youth Day in 2011 will take place in Madrid.

"Until then, let us continue to pray for one another and continue to bear witness to Christ. May God bless you all," he said.

Abbot of Worth speaks out against the secular media's coverage of WYD08
20 July 2008

Abbot Christopher Jamison of Worth Abbey has written a short piece for the Times from Sydney, which deals with the negative press that World Youth Day has been receiving in the secular media.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives at Randwick Racecourse for the prayer vigil
(AP Photos)

Pope Benedict urges the young to answer humanity's cry for unity
19 July 2008

Humanity seeks unity which can be found through the Holy Spirit, Pope Benedict XVI said in his second address to the young World Youth Day people today.

Speaking in front of the tens of thousands of young people gathered for this evening's prayer vigil in Randwick Racecourse, Pope Benedict said that the human soul cried out for unity a fragmented and divided world.

"You are already well aware that our Christian witness is offered to a world which in many ways is fragile. The unity of God's creation is weakened by wounds which run particularly deep when social relations break apart, or when the human spirit is all but crushed through the exploitation and abuse of persons."

Society, he said in his 25 minute-long address, is being fragmented by short-sighted attitudes which ignore the full horizon of truth: "the truth about God and the truth about us". By definition, relativism is incapable of showing the whole picture because it ignores the principles that "enable us to live and flourish in unity order and harmony".

But unity and reconciliation he said could not be achieved through human's efforts alone, but only through God and the Church. Pope Benedict warned that the temptation to create artificial "perfect" communities in the "face of imperfections and disappointments-both individual and institutional".

The Holy Father said: "That temptation is not new. The history of the Church includes many examples of attempts to bypass or override human weaknesses or failures in order to create a perfect unity, a spiritual utopia."

Some of the young pilgrims at the prayer vigil with candles
(AP Photos)

"Such attempts to construct unity in fact undermine it. To separate the Holy Spirit from Christ present in the Church's institutional structure would compromise the unity of the Christian community, which is precisely the Spirit's gift. ...

"Unfortunately the temptation to 'go it alone' persists. Some today portray their local community as somehow separate from the so-called institutional Church, by speaking of the former as flexible and open to the Spirit and the latter as rigid and devoid of the Spirit."

By listening and being watchful it is possible to discern the "concordant cry of humanity" through the dissonance and division of the world, he said.

"There emerges the same human cry for recognition, for belonging for unity. Who satisfies that essential human longing to be one, to immersed in communion, to be led to truth? The Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit's role to bring God's word to fulfilment, enriched by the Spirit's gifts you will have the power to move beyond the piecemeal. the hollow utopia, the fleeting, to offer the consistency and certainty of Christian witness," he said.

Explaining that the Holy Spirit was in some ways the "neglected person" of the Trinity because it is so difficult to understand, the Holy Father said that St Augustine offered insight into the Holy Spirit "as the bond of unity within the Blessed Trinity: Unity as communion, unity as abiding love, and unity as giving and gift."

Recalling St Augustine, he urged the 235,000 young people gathered in Randwick Racecourse under the constellation of the Southern Cross to "let unifying love be your measure; abiding love your challenge; self-giving love your mission".

Pope Benedict XVI lifts up the monstrance for Benediction
(AP Photos)

During the prayer vigil, the hundreds of thousands of young people held candles and listened to some of their international contemporaries witness their faith. Pope Benedict led Adoration and Benediction with the help of specially appointed young people who invoked the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The entire racecourse fell silent as the Holy Father knelt in front of the Blessed Sacrament in silent contemplation. Then the choir sang Tantum Ergo Sacramentum.

After Benediction, the Pope left the racecourse to rest for tomorrow's Mass.

Full text of today's Papal speeches
19 July 2008

To read Pope Benedict's address to the young people at Randwick Racecourse this evening, follow this link

For the full text of Pope Benedict's homily to the seminarians and young religious click here

Pope Benedict apologises to victims of sexual abuse
19 July 2008

Pope Benedict XVI sprinkles the new altar in St Mary's Cathedral with Holy Water
(PA Photos)

Pope Benedict spoke of his shame and sorrow as he delivered an apology for the clergy abuse scandals, which have plagued the Church in Australia.

Speaking to seminarians and young religious during a Mass in Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral earlier today, the Holy Father said:

"Here I would like to pause to acknowledge of the shame which we have all felt as the result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country. Indeed I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them, that as their pastor I too share in their suffering.

"These misdeeds constitute a grave betrayal of trust and they deserve unequivocal condemnation. They've caused great pain. They've damaged the Church's witness. I ask all of you to support and assist your bishops and work together with them in combating this evil. Victims should receive compassion and care and howsoever it is possible these evils must be brought to justice.

"It is an urgent priority to provide a safe and more wholesome environment especially for young people. In these days marked by the celebration of World Youth Day we are reminded of how precious a treasure has been entrusted to us in our young people."

Commentators have been expecting the Pope to apologise for the sexual abuse scandals in Australia as he did during his visit to the United States earlier this year.

In today's Mass, which precedes the three-hour outdoor Papal vigil for the young pilgrims who have travelled to Australia for World Youth Day, in honour of the young seminarians and religious of Australia, Pope Benedict consecrated the altar. During the homily, the Holy Father also spoke of the difficulties of consecrated life while praising those who chose to follow their vocations into the priesthood and religious life. He said that it was important never to forget "that a life of celibacy for the kingdom means a life fully dedicated to love".

He said that the altar was a symbol of Christ's sacrifice and he used the altar as a metaphor for the young seminarians and religious.

"Dear young seminarians and religious, you yourselves will become living altars, where Christ's sacrificial love is made present as an inspiration and a source of spiritual nourishment to everyone you meet."

While Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in St Mary's, tens of thousands of young people made their way across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of the Pilgrimage Walk from North Sydney towards Randwick Racecourse where tonight's vigil will take place.

Full text of today’s papal speeches
18 July 2008

For Benedict XVI’s address at the ecumenical meeting in the Crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, click here

For the Pope's speech at the meeting with representatives of other religions in the Chapter Hall of St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, click here

And for his address to disadvantaged young people in the rehabilitation community at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, click here

Together we can defeat terror, Pope tells interfaith leaders
18 July 2008

Pope Benedict XVI shakes hands with Sheikh Shardy who represents Australian Muslims at the interfaith gathering (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Benedict XVI called for religions to work together to put an end to violence and to promote human dignity after meeting with the leaders of other religions early today in Sydney.

After an inter-faith meeting which included Muslims, Hindus and Jewish clerics, the Holy Father said: "In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflict through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity."

Earlier today he addressed a meeting of Christian clergy in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, and said that ecumenism had reached a critical juncture.

He said: "To move forward, we must continually ask God to renew our minds with the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us through the Scriptures and guides us into all truth. We must guard against any temptation to view doctrine as divisive and hence an impediment to the seemingly more pressing and immediate task of improving the world in which we live."

Recalling St Augustine, the Pope said that understanding of the mysteries of faith and charity were interlinked. He also said that understanding between Christian denominations was strengthened not only through dialogue but could be enriched that the different strands of Christianity could give each other. Asking all those present to remember that Christ was at the heart of Christianity and not to forget the common witness to Christ.

"Every element of the Church's structure is important, yet all of them would falter and crumble without the cornerstone who is Christ," he said. "As 'fellow citizens' of the 'household of God,' Christians must work together to ensure that the edifice stands strong so that others will be attracted to enter and discover the abundant treasures of grace within.

"As we promote Christian values, we must not neglect to proclaim their source by giving a common witness to Jesus Christ the Lord. It is he who commissioned the apostles, he whom the prophets preached, and he whom we offer to the world."

This evening, Sydney was transformed into an enormous outdoor cathedral as hundreds of thousands of young people lined the streets to take part in a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross. Some 80 young Australians played the various characters depicting the via crucis and made their way through the dusky city. At each station the actors paused for prayers and readings, as pilgrims meditated on the passion. The Holy Father took part in the first station, the Last Supper, emerging from behind a large screen at Sydney's cathedral.

In his prayer he said, "Lord many people lack the food and drink to bring true joy. They do not know or have forgotten how you wish to meet them at the eucharist and share with them your humanity and divinity."

Crowds go wild as Pope Benedict enters Sydney Harbour
17 July 2008



A smiling Pope greeted tens of thousands of young pilgrims as he sailed through Sydney Harbour into Barangaroo during his official arrival for the 23rd World Youth Day.

Waving pilgrims lined the shore of Sydney Harbour, flags fluttered in Barangaroo and people stood on the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, watching the Pope's boat-a-cade come into the harbour. Ten boats carrying young people followed the Holy Father's cruise ship, which was filled with clergy and specially selected youngsters in national dress.

Disregarding protocol-the young people had been told to go up to the Pope on the top deck-Benedict XVI came down and stood on the lower deck chatting with them, waving and smiling, as boat entered the harbour. The Pope and the youngsters were both visibly moved by their personal encounters. One young Papua New Guinean could not be moved from his place at the Pope's elbow for the entire journey.

Once on shore, a group of Aborigines performed a dance for the Pope, before he moved up to the Sanctuary where Cardinal George Pell celebrated the Opening Mass for WYD08 on Tuesday.

Sydney's Cardinal Pell greeted the Pope on behalf of Australian Catholics, focusing on his role as the successor of Peter. The cardinal pointed out that there had been a pope in Rome 900 years before there was a king of England and 1,700 years before the Gospel first came to Oceania.

After the opening prayers and reading from the Gospel of Matthew (20:25-28), Pope Benedict gave a homily, addressing the pain suffered by the Aborigines and indigenous peoples of Australia and Oceania first, saying that the time for healing had come.

He said: "I am deeply moved to stand on your land, knowing the suffering and injustices it has borne, but aware too of the healing and hope that are now at work, rightly bringing pride to all Australian citizens."

As expected the Holy Father then spoke about Creation drawing the parallel between the scars affecting both physical environment and the social environment.

Looking out of the window of the Papal plane on the flight to Australia, he was filled with a sense of awe at the beauty and goodness of Creation with men and women at its heart he said. But under the beauty there are scars, he said. Erosion, deforestation, "the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption" affected the physical environment, but society too has its scars affecting the innate good in people.

He said: "All of us, young and old, have those moments when the innate goodness of the human person - perhaps glimpsed in the gesture of a little child or an adult's readiness to forgive - fills us with profound joy and gratitude.

"Yet such moments do not last. So again, we ponder. And we discover that not only the natural but also the social environment - the habitat we fashion for ourselves - has its scars; wounds indicating that something is amiss. Here too, in our personal lives and in our communities, we can encounter a hostility, something dangerous; a poison which threatens to corrode what is good, reshape who we are, and distort the purpose for which we have been created."

He spoke about alcohol and drug abuse, the exhaltation of violence, sexual degradation and exploitation.

Pope Benedict XVI said: "There is also something sinister which stems from the fact that freedom and tolerance are so often separated from truth. This is fuelled by the notion, widely held today, that there are no absolute truths to guide our lives.

"Relativism, by indiscriminately giving value to practically everything, has made 'experience' all-important. Yet, experiences, detached from any consideration of what is good or true, can lead, not to genuine freedom, but to moral or intellectual confusion, to a lowering of standards, to a loss of self-respect, and even to despair."

The Holy Father said that life was not just a succession of events or experiences but a search for the Truth:

"It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this - in truth, in goodness, and in beauty - that we find happiness and joy.

"Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth."

"Christ offers more! Indeed he offers everything! Only he who is the Truth can be the Way and hence also the Life. Thus the "way" which the Apostles brought to the ends of the earth is life in Christ. This is the life of the Church. And the entrance to this life, to the Christian way, is Baptism."

Earlier that day, Benedict XVI met the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and congratulated him on having made a public apology to t he Aboriginal people of Australia. He said that Mr Rudd had made a "courageous decision to acknowledge the injustices committed against the indigenous peoples in the past" which was helping close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australian peoples.

After meeting with the prime minister, he went to pray at the Mary MacKillop Chapel, where the beatified nun lies.

Full text of the Holy Father's speech at Barangaroo
17 July 2008

Dear Young People,

What a delight it is to greet you here at Barangaroo, on the shores of the magnificent Sydney harbour, with its famous bridge and Opera House. Many of you are local, from the outback or the dynamic multicultural communities of Australian cities. Others of you have come from the scattered islands of Oceania, and others still from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Some of you, indeed, have come from as far as I have, Europe! Wherever we are from, we are here at last in Sydney. And together we stand in our world as God's family, disciples of Christ, empowered by his Spirit to be witnesses of his love and truth for everyone!

I wish firstly to thank the Aboriginal Elders who welcomed me prior to my boarding the boat at Rose Bay. I am deeply moved to stand on your land, knowing the suffering and injustices it has borne, but aware too of the healing and hope that are now at work, rightly bringing pride to all Australian citizens. To the young indigenous - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders - and the Tokelauans, I express my thanks for your stirring welcome. Through you, I send heartfelt greetings to your peoples.

Cardinal Pell and Archbishop Wilson, I thank you for your warm words of welcome. I know that your sentiments resonate in the hearts of the young gathered here this evening, and so I thank you all. Standing before me I see a vibrant image of the universal Church. The variety of nations and cultures from which you hail shows that indeed Christ's Good News is for everyone; it has reached the ends of the earth. Yet I know too that a good number of you are still seeking a spiritual homeland. Some of you, most welcome among us, are not Catholic or Christian. Others of you perhaps hover at the edge of parish and Church life. To you I wish to offer encouragement: step forward into Christ's loving embrace; recognize the Church as your home. No one need remain on the outside, for from the day of Pentecost the Church has been one and universal.

This evening I wish also to include those who are not present among us. I am thinking especially of the sick or mentally ill, young people in prison, those struggling on the margins of our societies, and those who for whatever reason feel alienated from the Church. To them I say: Jesus is close to you! Feel his healing embrace, his compassion and mercy!

Almost two thousand years ago, the Apostles, gathered in the upper room together with Mary and some faithful women, were filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14; 2:4). At that extraordinary moment, which gave birth to the Church, the confusion and fear that had gripped Christ's disciples were transformed into a vigorous conviction and sense of purpose. They felt impelled to speak of their encounter with the risen Jesus whom they had come to call affectionately, the Lord. In many ways, the Apostles were ordinary. None could claim to be the perfect disciple. They failed to recognize Christ (cf. Lk 24:13-32), felt ashamed of their own ambition (cf. Lk 22:24-27), and had even denied him (cf. Lk 22:54-62). Yet, when empowered by the Holy Spirit, they were transfixed by the truth of Christ's Gospel and inspired to proclaim it fearlessly. Emboldened, they exclaimed: repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:37-38)! Grounded in the Apostles' teaching, in fellowship, and in the breaking of the bread and prayer (cf. Acts 2:42), the young Christian community moved forward to oppose the perversity in the culture around them (cf. Acts 2:40), to care for one another (cf. Acts 2:44-47), to defend their belief in Jesus in the face of hostility (cf Acts 4:33), and to heal the sick (cf. Acts 5:12-16). And in obedience to Christ's own command, they set forth, bearing witness to the greatest story ever: that God has become one of us, that the divine has entered human history in order to transform it, and that we are called to immerse ourselves in Christ's saving love which triumphs over evil and death. Saint Paul, in his famous speech to the Areopagus, introduced the message in this way: "God gives everything - including life and breath - to everyone ... so that all nations might seek God and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. In fact he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17: 25-28).

And ever since, men and women have set out to tell the same story, witnessing to Christ's truth and love, and contributing to the Church's mission. Today, we think of those pioneering Priests, Sisters and Brothers who came to these shores, and to other parts of the Pacific, from Ireland, France, Britain and elsewhere in Europe. The great majority were young - some still in their late teens - and when they bade farewell to their parents, brothers and sisters, and friends, they knew they were unlikely ever to return home. Their whole lives were a selfless Christian witness. They became the humble but tenacious builders of so much of the social and spiritual heritage which still today brings goodness, compassion and purpose to these nations. And they went on to inspire another generation. We think immediately of the faith which sustained Blessed Mary MacKillop in her sheer determination to educate especially the poor, and Blessed Peter To Rot in his steadfast resolution that community leadership must always include the Gospel. Think also of your own grandparents and parents, your first teachers in faith. They too have made countless sacrifices of time and energy, out of love for you. Supported by your parish priests and teachers, they have the task, not always easy but greatly satisfying, of guiding you towards all that is good and true, through their own witness - their teaching and living of our Christian faith.

Today, it is my turn. For some of us, it might seem like we have come to the end of the world! For people of your age, however, any flight is an exciting prospect. But for me, this one was somewhat daunting! Yet the views afforded of our planet from the air were truly wondrous. The sparkle of the Mediterranean, the grandeur of the north African desert, the lushness of Asia's forestation, the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, the horizon upon which the sun rose and set, and the majestic splendour of Australia's natural beauty which I have been able to enjoy these last couple of days; these all evoke a profound sense of awe. It is as though one catches glimpses of the Genesis creation story - light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the waters, the earth, and living creatures; all of which are "good" in God's eyes (cf. Gen 1:1 - 2:4). Immersed in such beauty, who could not echo the words of the Psalmist in praise of the Creator: "how majestic is your name in all the earth?" (Ps 8:1).

And there is more - something hardly perceivable from the sky - men and women, made in nothing less than God's own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26). At the heart of the marvel of creation are you and I, the human family "crowned with glory and honour" (Ps 8:5). How astounding! With the Psalmist we whisper: "what is man that you are mindful of him?" (Ps 8:4). And drawn into silence, into a spirit of thanksgiving, into the power of holiness, we ponder.

What do we discover? Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption. Some of you come from island nations whose very existence is threatened by rising water levels; others from nations suffering the effects of devastating drought. God's wondrous creation is sometimes experienced as almost hostile to its stewards, even something dangerous. How can what is "good" appear so threatening?

And there is more. What of man, the apex of God's creation? Every day we encounter the genius of human achievement. From advances in medical sciences and the wise application of technology, to the creativity reflected in the arts, the quality and enjoyment of people's lives in many ways are steadily rising. Among yourselves there is a readiness to take up the plentiful opportunities offered to you. Some of you excel in studies, sport, music, or dance and drama, others of you have a keen sense of social justice and ethics, and many of you take up service and voluntary work. All of us, young and old, have those moments when the innate goodness of the human person - perhaps glimpsed in the gesture of a little child or an adult's readiness to forgive - fills us with profound joy and gratitude.

Yet such moments do not last. So again, we ponder. And we discover that not only the natural but also the social environment - the habitat we fashion for ourselves - has its scars; wounds indicating that something is amiss. Here too, in our personal lives and in our communities, we can encounter a hostility, something dangerous; a poison which threatens to corrode what is good, reshape who we are, and distort the purpose for which we have been created. Examples abound, as you yourselves know. Among the more prevalent are alcohol and drug abuse, and the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, often presented through television and the internet as entertainment. I ask myself, could anyone standing face to face with people who actually do suffer violence and sexual exploitation "explain" that these tragedies, portrayed in virtual form, are considered merely "entertainment"?

There is also something sinister which stems from the fact that freedom and tolerance are so often separated from truth. This is fuelled by the notion, widely held today, that there are no absolute truths to guide our lives. Relativism, by indiscriminately giving value to practically everything, has made "experience" all-important. Yet, experiences, detached from any consideration of what is good or true, can lead, not to genuine freedom, but to moral or intellectual confusion, to a lowering of standards, to a loss of self-respect, and even to despair.

Dear friends, life is not governed by chance; it is not random. Your very existence has been willed by God, blessed and given a purpose (cf. Gen 1:28)! Life is not just a succession of events or experiences, helpful though many of them are. It is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this - in truth, in goodness, and in beauty - that we find happiness and joy. Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.

Christ offers more! Indeed he offers everything! Only he who is the Truth can be the Way and hence also the Life. Thus the "way" which the Apostles brought to the ends of the earth is life in Christ. This is the life of the Church. And the entrance to this life, to the Christian way, is Baptism.

This evening I wish therefore to recall briefly something of our understanding of Baptism before tomorrow considering the Holy Spirit. On the day of your Baptism, God drew you into his holiness (cf. 2 Pet 1:4). You were adopted as a son or daughter of the Father. You were incorporated into Christ. You were made a dwelling place of his Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). Baptism is neither an achievement, nor a reward. It is a grace; it is God's work. Indeed, towards the conclusion of your Baptism, the priest turned to your parents and those gathered and, calling you by your name said: "you have become a new creation" (Rite of Baptism, 99).

Dear friends, in your homes, schools and universities, in your places of work and recreation, remember that you are a new creation! Not only do you stand before the Creator in awe, rejoicing at his works, you also realize that the sure foundation of humanity's solidarity lies in the common origin of every person, the high-point of God's creative design for the world. As Christians you stand in this world knowing that God has a human face - Jesus Christ - the "way" who satisfies all human yearning, and the "life" to which we are called to bear witness, walking always in his light (cf. ibid., 100).

The task of witness is not easy. There are many today who claim that God should be left on the sidelines, and that religion and faith, while fine for individuals, should either be excluded from the public forum altogether or included only in the pursuit of limited pragmatic goals. This secularist vision seeks to explain human life and shape society with little or no reference to the Creator. It presents itself as neutral, impartial and inclusive of everyone. But in reality, like every ideology, secularism imposes a world-view. If God is irrelevant to public life, then society will be shaped in a godless image, and debate and policy concerning the public good will be driven more by consequences than by principles grounded in truth.

Yet experience shows that turning our back on the Creator's plan provokes a disorder which has inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created order (cf. 1990 World Day of Peace Message, 5). When God is eclipsed, our ability to recognize the natural order, purpose, and the "good" begins to wane. What was ostensibly promoted as human ingenuity soon manifests itself as folly, greed and selfish exploitation. And so we have become more and more aware of our need for humility before the delicate complexity of God's world.

But what of our social environment? Are we equally alert to the signs of turning our back on the moral structure with which God has endowed humanity (cf. 2007 World Day of Peace Message, 8)? Do we recognize that the innate dignity of every individual rests on his or her deepest identity - as image of the Creator - and therefore that human rights are universal, based on the natural law, and not something dependent upon negotiation or patronage, let alone compromise? And so we are led to reflect on what place the poor and the elderly, immigrants and the voiceless, have in our societies. How can it be that domestic violence torments so many mothers and children? How can it be that the most wondrous and sacred human space - the womb - has become a place of unutterable violence?

My dear friends, God's creation is one and it is good. The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God himself and thus inviolable. Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises. Our hearts and minds are yearning for a vision of life where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. This is the work of the Holy Spirit! This is the hope held out by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to bear witness to this reality that you were created anew at Baptism and strengthened through the gifts of the Spirit at Confirmation. Let this be the message that you bring from Sydney to the world!

Mi rivolgo ora con affetto ai giovani di lingua italiana. Cari amici, anche questa volta avete risposto numerosi al mio invito, nonostante le difficoltà dovute alla distanza. Vi ringrazio, e voglio salutare anche i vostri coetanei che dall'Italia sono spiritualmente uniti a noi. Vi invito a vivere con grande impegno interiore queste giornate: aprite il cuore al dono dello Spirito Santo, per essere rafforzati nella fede e nella capacità di rendere testimonianza al Signore risorto. Arrivederci!

Chers jeunes francophones, poussés par le désir d'approfondir votre foi, vous êtes venus des extrémités de la terre pour vivre à Sydney l'expérience unique et communautaire d'une rencontre privilégiée avec le Seigneur. C'est l'Esprit Saint qui vous a rassemblés ici. Puisse-t-Il vous permettre de expérimenter sa présence dans votre cœur et vous pousser à rendre témoignage avec ardeur de Jésus-Christ mort et ressuscité pour vous!

Liebe Freunde, die ihr mich in meiner Muttersprache versteht, von Herzen grüße ich euch alle. Erweist euch überall als freudige Zeugen der frohmachenden Botschaft Jesu! Sprecht mutig von eurem Glauben, auch wenn ihr zuweilen auf Widerspruch stößt und das Kreuz der Ablehnung erfährt. Der Herr, der für uns ein größeres Kreuz getragen hat, wird euch beistehen. Gott schenke euch eine gute, gesegnete Zeit hier in Australien.

Queridos jóvenes de lengua española, la misión de ser testigos del Señor en todos los lugares de la tierra es una apasionante tarea, que exige acoger su Palabra e identificarse con Él, compartiendo con los demás la alegría de haber encontrado al verdadero amigo que nunca defrauda. Que este reto agrande vuestra generosidad. Un saludo muy cordial a todos.

Queridos amigos dos vários países de língua oficial portuguesa, bem-vindos a Sidney! A todos saúdo com afecto: os de perto e os de longe. Lá, na vossa Pátria, tereis ouvido Jesus segredar-vos: «Sereis minhas testemunhas... até aos confins do mundo» (Act 1, 8). A viagem mais ou menos longa que enfrentastes para chegar até aqui, à Austrália ou - de seu nome cristão completo - «Terra Austral do Espírito Santo», não deixou em vós a sensação de terdes chegado aos confins do mundo? Pois bem! É com grande alegria que o Papa vos acolhe para vos confirmar como testemunhas de Jesus, por Ele acreditadas com o dom do seu próprio Espírito.

Three minute showers for pilgrims as WYD08 goes green
By Christian De Lisle

16 July 2008

World Youth Day 2008 is so green that it should "if anything, leave the environment better off" an Australian bishop has claimed.

In order to save water the pilgrims will be limited to a mere three minuets in the shower each.

"On a per capita basis this group will be far and away the lowest-polluting crowd for an event in Sydney", Bishop Anthony Fisher said proudly.

The bishop, an auxiliary for the Diocese of Sidney, said that "from the start" the event organisers wanted to make it friendly to the environment. Primarily this took the form of a Carbon-Offsetting program whereby young Australians would plant thousands of trees to offset the carbon from the aeroplanes pilgrims used to get to Australia.

Other measures will be a strong emphasis on recycling and walking between events.

Sizzling Days in the Diocese
Pastor Iuventus reports from Down Under

16 July 2008

As I stand at a funny-looking computer kiosk in the hotel in Sydney I get the feeling for the first time what it must be like to be a real journalist, reporting from far away on events as they happen. This dispatch comes from the heart of the 2008 World Youth Day Pilgrimage.

We - that is, my group of 32 and the bigger diocesan group of 81 - arrived in Sydney last night, but we left England almost a week ago. What's been happening since then? Well, almost 40 hours were taken up with travelling, leaving out the hours to get to Heathrow, the long queues to check in, the six hours to Dubai, a four-hour spell there and then the 13-hour long haul to Australia. It is strange and beautiful to see two dawns come up in quicker succession than usual and there is something completely unreal about the distance from home and being 37,000 feet in the air, which give an edge to saying the beautiful words of the canticle from my morning office: "The loving kindness of the heart of our God, who visits us like the dawn from on high..."

At Sydney airport there are groups of Mexican pilgrims in huge sombreros, a singing Polish group, some Colombians and Filipinos, Americans and New Zealanders and the group get their first real taste of the extraordinary atmosphere of a World Youth Day pilgrimage as everyone greets one another as best as their language skills allow, and everyone smiles and waves at these new-found friends and fellow travellers. But the journey is not over yet. It is time to board a coach for a final leg of three hours to our "Days in the Diocese". So far our young people are bearing up well, despite having slept little; they are running on excitement. The Days in the Diocese are what turns us into pilgrims and not just tourists. To experience the hospitality of the local people and to enter for a little while into their families and homes and parishes will mean that we learn a little about the culture.

We arrive at the Therry Centre in East Maitland, about 100 miles along the coast from Sydney. We will see much of this place over the next few days. It is a large, well-appointed parish centre next to an attractive red-brick church in a suburb of the town of Maitland. We are welcomed with tea, coffee and hot pies. Already in the hall are groups of Colombian and Belgian pilgrims who are also staying in this area. One by one our pilgrims are collected by their hosts. These are all volunteers from the local parishes who have been vetted by a local organising committee. Some are couples with families of their own, others are older and retired. All, without exception, are overwhelmingly gracious and warm in their welcome.

I feel a little anxious, if I am honest, seeing the young people leave. It is, for them, for anyone, quite a big deal to travel across the world to stay with strangers, but my anxieties are groundless. Without exception they are well cared for and very happy. There will be tears on both sides for some of them when it comes to leaving after four nights.

My host is the Moderator, as he is called, of eight parishes in the area. He lives in the old bishop's house in Maitland, a magnificent colonial house with huge rooms and high ceilings and mahogany fittings. He takes us back for a welcome meal and a shower. Like most of our pilgrims, I suspect, by 8pm Australian time - 11am English time - I am falling asleep, for I have barely slept since leaving England.

I had not realised the state the Church is in, in this part of Australia at least. Over the days as our host talks, it emerges that they have been riven with scandals of paedophile priests, Mass attendance has plummeted and there seems to be widespread disaffection among the clergy. My host is in his 70s. Gentle Fr Morry, who lives with him, is officially retired, but between themselves and a couple of other retired priests they are responsible for 11 Mass centres.

Over the next few days the pilgrims meet in the parishes for Mass. It is a powerful witness for the local Church to have these people of many languages praying with them. During these days the families entertain their guests. Pilgrims tell of visits to see koalas and roos, of riding their hosts' horses or quad bikes, of walking in the hills and sailing on the lake. We see them in the evenings for a succession of "sausage sizzle" barbecues and they are obviously having the time of their lives.

After an intense four days we take our leave of the local church for the gathering in Sydney. The people speak about how they feel "revitalised", "energised" and "renewed" by seeing the youth of the Church. If it were for this alone, all the travel and effort would have been worth it. With full hearts we head for the city, and the days of catechesis and encounter, culminating in our meeting with the Holy Father, a great Pentecost for the Church, God willing, in which the Holy Spirit will clothe these young people and indeed all of us, with power from on High.

Pope relaxes at Kenthurst Study Centre
16 July 2008

Pope Benedict pets a koala during his stay at the Kenthurst Study Centre
PA Photos

Earlier today Pope Benedict saw, at his own request, some of the unusual wildlife of Australia. The Holy Father met a wallaby, a koala, a python, a lizard and an infant crocodile all from the Toronga Zoo in Sydney.

The Holy Father braves a meeting with an indigenous Australian snake
PA Photos

Cardinal Pell's Homily
15 July 2008

EWTN has a full transcript of Cardinal Pell's homily given at the July 15 Opening Mass

Cardinal Pell celebrates the Opening Mass for World Youth Day
15 July 2008



Cardinal George Pell opened the World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney today with a call to not just to the young people who were there to open their hearts to the Spirit but to all those, young and old, who are lost or in despair.

During the opening Mass in Barangaroo, where hundreds and thousands of young people gathered to celebrate the official beginning of the 23rd World Youth Day, Cardinal Pell opened his homily by citing the parable of the shepherd with the 99 sheep, who went in search of the one sheep that was missing. He called the pilgrims who took part in the Mass the sheep that had already been found.

"I begin by encouraging anyone anywhere who regards themselves as already lost and in despair," he said. Christ is still calling to those who are suffering and in need of healing, he said, not just the faithful, but especially those without religion. Cardinal Pell said the causes of the wounds, be they the emptiness of success, family breakdown, drugs or loneliness were secondary because Christ was calling to all those who were suffering "home to love, healing and community".

Drawing on the reading from Ezekiel (37:1-14), he said that the valley of dry bones should be read as a symbol of hope "for those who say our hope is gone, we are as good as dead. This is never true, as long as we can choose". He said: "As long as we live, there is always hope."

The cardinal then addressed the pilgrims directly, using the parable of the seeds which had been the Gospel reading (Luke 8:4-14) and said that most of those who were present were probably those seeds who had found the furrows but some were those in danger of choking with the weeds of the worries of day to day life.

Cardinal Pell called the young not to sit on the fence or to inhabit no man's land but to open themselves to God and to trust in God. He asked them to pray for an openness of heart, saying that "God will not fail us".

He described the pilgrims as the apostles who had come to the ends of the earth to witness Christ's teaching. Many young people found their vocations at World Youth Day, he said. He also said that he hoped the pilgrims would feel their spirits rise in the next five days and urged them to celebrate the rejuvenation of the faith which called them to open their hearts to the spirit. But he warned the young people not to let their enthusiasm make them "forget to listen and to pray".

At the beginning of the Mass Cardinal Pell greeted the pilgrims in the four official languages of World Youth Day: German, French, Spanish and Italian. He especially thanked the Bishop of Cologne for the support and friendship that the Germans had extended them during the last World Youth Day in 2006. The bishops and cardinals from around the world were vested in red and the Mass was celebrated predominantly in English but the Liturgy of the Word was held in Spanish, French and Italian. The Our Father was in Latin.

During the Gospel Procession, Torres Strait Aborigines danced in front of the Sanctuary as two young people from the Torres Straight brought the Gospel up to them. Together with the young Aborigines, they then presented the Gospel to a deacon in a red dalmatic.

Pope's press conference transcript
15 July 2008

Link to the transcript of the Pope's press conference on the papal plane. In Italian.

Pope Benedict arrives in Australia
14 July 2008

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met Pope Benedict at the plane on Sunday

Pope Benedict arrived in Australia on Sunday where he was greeted on the tarmac by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Cardinal George Pell, before going to spend three days resting in the Opus Dei study centre in the Sydney suburbs.

In a press conference on the flight, the Holy Father said that he would apologise to the victims of clerical sexual abuse as well as addressing environmental issues during his eight-day stay in Australia.

When asked whether he would apologise to abuse victims in Australia as he did to American victims during his visit in the United States earlier this year, the Pope responded: "Yes, the problem is essentially the same as it is in the United States."

"I felt obliged to speak about it in the United States because it is essential for the Church to reconcile, to prevent, to help and also to see the guilt," he said. "And so, I will say essentially the same things that I said in America."

He stressed that the Church needed to be clear that its moral teaching made the priesthood "incompatible with this behaviour".

An apology must include a promise to "help with the education and preparation of priests and ongoing formation and we will do what is possible to heal and reconcile with the victims.'

Benedict XVI also said that he would talk about climate change at World Youth Day.

He said: "We will talk about the Holy Spirit and, consequently, about creation and about our responsibility for creation."

As the Pope and thousands of young pilgrims were converging towards Sydney for the World Youth Day celebrations, the Holy Father also said that he was optimistic about the Church's future. Even if religious practice declined, faith itself would not disappear because God would not disappear.

"Religion is always present in the world and always will be," he said.

The Pope's first official appearance will be on Thursday when he arrives in Sydney Harbour to greet pilgrims in a "Boat-o-cade".

Over 100,000 foreign pilgrims filled the streets of Sydney on Monday, cheering as the World Youth Day cross and icon arrived by ferry in central Sydney completing their journey through Australia.

WYD08 Blog goes live
10 July 2008

Check out the latest news from the pilgrims Down Under on The Catholic Herald's World Youth Day Blog

Getting ready for the time of their lives
Anna Arco meets the diverse young people who are preparing to join Pope Benedict XVI at this year's World Youth Day in Australia

9 July 2008

The World Youth Day Cross enters the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra in February.

The old World Youth Day hands in Fr Dominic Howarth's Brentwood gang have been trying to save up since Cologne 2006. Fr Dominic Allain's bunch in Southwark diocese have also been hard at work fundraising all year. So has the group that Fr Daniel Seward and Fr Alexander Sherbrooke are taking to Australia. They've performed in variety shows, walked to raise money, had cake sales and boat parties, and been bagging in Marks and Spencer. Generous parishioners, parents and benefactors have also helped them raise the more than £1,000 to go to Australia. And now, after months of preparation, planning, filling out visa applications and compiling packing lists, over 2,000 young adults from England and Wales are heading Down Under.

Over supper in New Malden, Surrey, I meet five of Fr Allain's 32 young people. James, Josh, Kurt, Simonne and Oliver are in high spirits. There are only a couple of days left to go before they fly for over 23 hours to join hundreds of thousands of other young people in Australian dioceses for the "Days in the Diocese". Their group will be in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, where they will meet their Australian contemporaries and get to know them. From there they will travel to Sydney where the actual World Youth Day events kick off with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal George Pell on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 15 at Barangaroo.

During the five-day period in Sydney they will take part in a Papal Vigil, Stations of the Cross, and a Papal Mass, as well as three days of catechesis run by bishops and cardinals from around the world. Running parallel to the major events are hundreds of workshops which range from learning Gregorian chant to learning about Humanae Vitae, opportunities to go to Confession and places around the city set up for Adoration and prayer. The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal are flying in the rapping friar, Fr Stan Fortuna, for a concert on Bondai Beach.

At 15, Simonne Rodrigues is the youngest in Fr Allain's group and probably one of the youngest pilgrims going to Australia from England and Wales. (The typical age range is between 16 and 35.) Simonne's older brother Josh, who wants to study development studies and Swahili at SOAS, is going to look after her, he says. She rolls her eyes. She's really looking forward to going to Australia, she says, having heard so many cool stories about World Youth Day.

Are they looking forward to seeing Pope Benedict? Yes, but Kurt Barragan and James Howe, who are World Youth Day veterans, saw him in Cologne in 2006. They were so keen to see the Holy Father from up close that they managed to bluff their way into the special area reserved for the seminarians. Two years on, Kurt is actually a seminarian at Wonersh. Fr Allain says teasingly that James, who is reading computer science at Cambridge and is the chairman of the Fisher Society, will become a seminarian after this year's World Youth Day. James shakes his head, laughing. "They're still working on me," he says.

James and Kurt say that the catechesis in Cologne was one of the best parts of the pilgrimage. They are really looking forward to it this year. The young pilgrims are divided into groups and a bishop or cardinal talks about the theme of the World Youth Day. In Cologne, the theme from Matthew was "We have come to worship Him" and their group heard the Australian Cardinal George Pell and Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. "It really made the whole thing come together," says Kurt.

The theme this year is from the Acts of the Apostles: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses." Pope Benedict has called for young people to be witnesses of faith and evangelists for other young people through their witness.

A few practicalities still need sorting out. As we leave Fr Allain tells someone to remember to buy a First Aid kit. Founded by Pope John Paul II in 1986, World Youth Day has grown into a huge international gathering, which takes place every two to three years in a different host city. The last World Youth Day was held in Cologne and in the past it was held in a variety of world cities including Toronto, Rome and Manilla. This year, organisers expect over 225,000 people to attend.

In the parish hall of the Oxford Oratory after Mass I meet Rosie and Jessica, who are heading out with Fr Daniel Seward, who looks like he probably could also still qualify as youth by the World Youth Day standards. This is a geographically diverse group. They are 53 people strong, with 25 youngsters from Oxford, some from Durham and the North East, and the St Patrick's Evangelisation School, shepherded by Fr Alexander Sherbrooke of St Patrick's Soho Square in Central London. Fr Seward says that there are even some former parishioners who are flying to London from the United States in order to travel to Australia with their group.

Rosie, who is a budding photographer and has just finished her GCSEs, has heard about all the World Youth Days and has always wanted to go. This year she can and she's looking forward to it.

"I think it's going to be great we will learn so much more with people our age," she says. "I think it will be so amazing to be surrounded by thousands and thousands of young Catholics. You're in such a minority at school and you have to stand up every single day to really random and horrible arguments with people questioning stuff. People see me as someone who has all the answers and I should be able to answer all their questions."

Jessica, who has just finished her A-Levels, and is off to Leicester to study medical biochemistry, agrees and adds that that she is looking forward to making new friends with similar interests from around the world.

The World Youth Day in Cologne was such a good experience, Fr Seward says, that he was persuaded to take a group to Australia the minute the Pope announced the location. One of the girls he took to Germany is now an enclosed nun.

Their pilgrimage to Australia begins a week before the Days in the Diocese, which they will be taking part in too. The group is using World Youth Day as a chance to do some tourism and to work on their spiritual lives. They will attend Mass almost every day - both in the extraordinary form, celebrated by Fr Seward, and in the ordinary form, celebrated by Fr Sherbrooke - and Divine Office. Among sleeping bags, mosquito spray and sensible shoes, their packing list also includes the Magnificat daily prayer books.

Before they hit Melbourne for their Days in the Diocese they will have been to Singapore, Alice Springs and have stayed in a "swag" in the outback. They hope to meet some Aborigines and perhaps do some sort of constructive work in the community. which Fr Seward thinks could consist of picking plastic bags out of a river. After the papal encounter in Sydney they will head on to Marian Valley, south of Brisbane, for a retreat where prayer will be punctuated with a visit to Seaworld and the Gold Coast before they leave.

Fr Seward waxes lyrical about St Peter's Surrey Hill, the Sydney parish that is hosting his bunch of youngsters. "They sent us the sweetest welcome video and they are having a party for us on the night we leave," he says.

In these days of instant communication, the organisers of World Youth Day have become tech-savvy. YouTube videos like the one from St Peter's, Surrey Hill welcoming the visiting groups of pilgrims are a common phenomenon. The official website has a ticker which counts down the remaining days to World Youth Day and a new social networking inspired by Facebook has been set up so that young people can get to know each other via the internet before they go out to Australia. The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has pioneered a project which trains some of the youngsters going out to Australia as communications officers. They have learnt how to make podcasts, write articles and take photographs, so that they can communicate their experiences to those back home via the internet and the other media.

Matthew Kirrane, 27, Frances O'Leary, 22, and Gareth Talbot, 21, are from Brentwood Catholic Youth Service, which is run by Fr Dominic Howarth. Unlike the other two groups, these youngsters are part of a larger diocesan pilgrimage. Not only are they leaders on the pilgrimage to Australia, they are also being trained as communications officers. Matt works in the IT sector is well up on web design. Francis is training to be a music teacher and finished her postgraduate certificate in education this summer. Eloquent and organised, they have come to the youth service for different reasons, but they all share similar reasons for going out to Australia. Matt is another WYD veteran who took part in the Toronto as well as Cologne. He is one of the oldest in the group and his experiences in Canada and Germany were so positive that he wants other people to share the experience.

"It's just amazing to be out in different countries and to be with young people who are united with a joint purpose,"_says Matt. "Living with host families also gives you a real insight into other cultures and people are so welcoming."

He adds:_"When I went to Germany, it was because I had had such an incredible experience in Toronto and wanted to go again. I met some great people there. Now, I'm going because I want the other people to be able to have the experiences I've had.

"It's really difficult to explain to people what it is exactly about World Youth Day that makes it such an experience. They say: 'So you went to a Mass.' And yes, that's true, but the atmosphere is just so amazing. To be there with so many young people who are doing the Mexican wave, or chanting in support of the Pope or flying flags is so infectious. You are in a stadium with hundreds of thousands of people who all believe the same thing you do."

For Frances, who got involved with the youth service because of the parish Sister, World Youth Day is a chance to meet people who share her faith. The camaraderie and people's openness, appeal to her. The World Youth Day in Cologne took place just before she went to university. She says it was extraordinary to meet people on trains, in the street or on buses.

"You knew they were pilgrims because they wore badges," she recalls. "So you would start chatting to them. I met an Australian girl from Melbourne when I was out there and I've been in touch with her ever since. We've arranged to meet up this World Youth Day again."

A few weeks after the pilgrimage to Cologne, Frances went to university. After the intensity of Cologne, she found it almost strange that people on the trains in London who were obviously fellow students didn't talk to her. As a result of their experiences at the 2006 World Youth Day, a first for Brentwood Catholic Youth Service, more youngsters have joined the youth service and are intent on getting involved. "It's really important to be able to engage with the Church in this way," says Frances. "I think it's sometimes hard for young people to keep going to Mass in their parishes. The Masses seem very regimented and stiff, and while there is a children's Mass there is very little for the youth, though this is changing.

"When I joined the youth service and went to my first youth Mass I was amazed to see people from my parish who had stopped going to the parish Mass, but found the youth Mass was something that engaged with them. World Youth Day does that too."

Benedict grants indulgences for World Youth Day
9 July 2008

Pope Benedict XVI has granted a plenary indulgence for all those who participate in the upcoming events of next week's World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia.

The Apostolic Penitentiary announced last Saturday that the faithful who take part in the events in Australia "including its solemn conclusion, so that, having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and being truly repentant, they receive Holy Communion and devoutly pray according to the intentions of His Holiness" will receive a plenary indulgence.

Those unable to take part in Sydney can avail themselves of a partial indulgence wherever they are if they "raise their prayer to God the Holy Spirit so that young people are drawn to charity and given the strength to proclaim the Gospel with their life".

A similar plenary indulgence was granted in 2005 for those who took part in the World Youth Day in Cologne so that thousands of young people could avail themselves of "the spiritual treasures of the Church". From July 15 to July 20 the streets of Sydney will be filled with young pilgrims who have come from all over to take part in one of the largest youth events in the world. Organisers expect over 225,000 young people who range between the ages of 16 and 35.

The events open with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal George Pell but the highlight of the five-day gathering will be the papal vigil on Saturday night and the papal Mass on Sunday.

In the breaks between the bigger events, Adoration and Confession will be widely available in different locations around the city. Cardinals and bishops from around the world will be leading catechesis sessions.

During last week's Angelus Pope Benedict called on the whole Church to take part in World Youth Day both physically and spiritually.

He said: "I invite the whole Church to share in this new stage of the great pilgrimage of young people across the world, begun in 1985 by the Servant of God John Paul II.

"I am certain that from all the corners of the Earth Catholics will be united with me and with all the young people gathered, as in the Cenacle, in Sydney, intensely invoking the Holy Spirit so that he will flood hearts with the inner light of love of God and of brothers, and of courageous initiative to introduce Jesus's eternal message in the diversity of languages and cultures."

The Holy Father arrives in Australia on July 13 and will take three days' holiday before the official events begin. He is said to be staying at the Opus Dei Study Centre in Kenthurst. According to other reports the Pope will be staying with Cardinal Christopher Schoenborn in Ballina on the north coast of New South Wales. Neither of these has been confirmed by the Church.

He is expected to address the victims of sexual abuse, following a precedent he set during his visit to the United States earlier this year.

Speaking on radio last week Cardinal Pell said that the Pope was likely to make similar expressions of shame and regret over paedophile priests to those he made in the United States. The Australian bishops' conference issued a formal apology to those who suffered from sexual abuse at the hands of priests in 2002.

Cardinal Pell said: "He handled it very well in the United States and I anticipate he'll do the same here."

Last month the Australian cardinal also said that he was "not proud" of what had happened in the past but that the bishops had "faced up to it pretty well for quite some time now" and that "it would be appropriate for the Pope to say something on that score".

Making a vocation a vacation
Pastor Iuventus gets ready to lead a group to Sydney

9 July 2008

It feels very odd to wake up and think that today one is setting off for the other side of the world, especially if one hasn't yet had a chance to pack. But suddenly it is the hour, and today the deanery group departs for World Youth Day. In fact by 11am, as I write this, the World Youth Day pilgrimage has begun, even though I have not left yet.

For this morning (Tuesday) we celebrated a Pilgrims' Mass in one of the larger deanery churches for the 32 pilgrims, their families and people from all around the deanery and our supporters from even further afield. I now feel a little more calm and collected. We prayed that the Holy Spirit would indeed clothe our young people with power from on high, and I prayed that He would also keep them safe for the next two weeks. It was wonderful to see such a great crowd there.

Pope Benedict spoke on Sunday of the gathering in Sydney being the focus of attention for the whole Church, "as it were a cenacle", as we pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on our young people. With his usual feeling not just for theology but for the realities of the spiritual life, he has declared an indulgence for all the faithful, wherever they are, who unite themselves in prayer over the days of the celebration in Sydney.

So after Mass we disperse to do last-minute things. The first coach leaves for the airport at 4 pm. I reckon that leaves me almost exactly four hours to finish this, take the rota to the hospital switchboard staff, collect some altar breads for the church, drop my bleep off to the priest who is covering some of my on-call time, charge my iPod and pack my suitcase complete with sleeping bag, groundsheet, bivouac bag and everything I need (well, not quite everything), for a sleep out under the stars in Randwick Park as the culmination of our pilgrimage. As our group is so large we are travelling in two waves to Dubai, where we will reassemble sometime in the small hours of Wednesday morning for the onward leg all together to Sydney. Once we arrive in Sydney - estimated at 6.25 am local time on Thursday morning - we have a three-hour coach journey to the city of Maitland, north-east of Sydney, where we will be billeted on the good people of the Diocese of Maitland and Newcastle. I have looked at it on the internet; it looks very pleasant, not that it matters; I am sure that it will resemble the Promised Land after all that travelling.

As I frantically check lists, one of my parishioners calls in with a bag of sweets and a little card saying: "I wish I was young enough to come." The kindness gives me great strength. She has made the journey to Sydney several times to visit her daughter and her grandchildren, and her intrepid approach leaves me less anxious about the journey, about which, to be honest, I am worried. Then there are the usual anxieties involved whenever taking a group of young people away. Two of them have severe allergies and carry adrenaline shots in case of anaphylaxis. The airline is being particularly unhelpful about them. I suppose there is no reason why I should be more anxious about travelling to Australia than to America, for example, but somehow the distance seems to make it rather daunting and amplifies my concerns. I have to keep reminding myself that we are not actually going to stay in the outback. There are doctors and dentists there, they speak English and there are shops.

And I realise than even when it is surrounded by the trappings of 21st-century technology, pilgrimage remains essentially as it was in the Middle Ages. To be a pilgrim is to open your heart, to learn how to depend on others and to be prepared to put up with hardships for the sake of the greater good of encountering God in a more profound way. Part of pilgrimage is being outside one's comfort zone, in order that one may find the resources which God's grace will provide along the way. This is true not just of practical things. Spiritually, also, one has to set out without being too heavily laden, otherwise one will not make the distance. One must leave room to acquire what one does not possess; too much self-sufficiency and control stifles the work of the Spirit who blows where He wills.

Perhaps it was a gentle nudge from Him that came in the unlikely setting of Noodle Express, a Chinese restaurant, the other day. I had gathered some of our older pilgrims together, mostly those who have been away at university and therefore have not been so involved in the preparations. Many of them are veterans of previous World Youth Days and will provide a much-needed balance to the large numbers of younger pilgrims. We chatted through various aspects of the Sydney trip.

At the end of the meal, from inside a fortune cookie, came the message: "The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation." It struck me as very good advice as we head for what the servant of God John Paul II called "the great southern land of the Holy Spirit".

Blessed Pier Giorgio's relics travel to Sydney for World Youth Day
By Huw Twiston Davies

2 July 2008

Nearly 200,000 registrations, 450 events planned, and 14 days to go - World Youth Day 2008 promises to be one that will live in the memory of its participants for some time.

Ahead of the Cross and Icon, the remains of the charismatic Blessed Pier Giorgio, one of the ten World Youth Day patrons, have arrived in Sydney for WYD 2008. The remains of the Blessed Pier - revered for his generous spirit and social activism - have been in Turin since his death in 1925.

His remains, sealed in a zinc-lined coffin, are in St. Benedict's Church at Notre Dame University, where they will stay until July 10th. The Blessed Pier's feast day will be celebrated by Cardinal Pell and Bishop Anthony Fisher at a special Mass at 7pm on July 4th.

The body of the Blessed Pier will be the central piece of the Pilgrimage to the Cathedral taking place from July 11th to the 22nd.

Alongside the Blessed Pier, the free concerts, art exhibitions and rapping priests will be a series of serious discussions on a wide-range of matters, from Creationism to the late Pope's Theology of the Body, which will be discussed by such luminaries as Cardinal Schönborn and the Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt, under such titles as "Earthcare: Caring for creation" (presented by Catholic Earthcare, 8-10 pm, Friday 18th).

There will also be workshops on a diverse and inclusive range of issues, such as the objectification of women and historical apologetics.

But the key attraction which is being promoted by the WYD organisers is the Vocations Expo, which will be open all week. The Expo is taking place in the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, which will host over 100 Catholic movements, associations and groups who will provide information on vocations and the religious life.

Sydney gears up to meet the needs of young people
By Huw Twiston Davies

27 June 2008

Most of the preparations for World Youth Day in Sydney are winding towards their completion. Nine-hundred-and ninety thousand Tim Tam fingers, Wagon Wheels and Kettle Chips have been ordered. Fruit cakes, cup cakes milk, cutlery, Big Aussie Beef Pies and chocolate bars in almost unimaginable quantities are only a few of the items that make up the World Youth Day organizers' shopping list. Plans for large-scale traditional Aussie barbeque are afoot. The organizational scale of looking after the 250,000 expected pilgrims' physical well-being makes the mind boggle.

But looking after the pilgrims' spiritual well-being is by far the most important aspect of the 5-day-long youth event, and arrangements for the Vigil and Final Mass are well underway. A sanctuary capable of holding 500 cardinals, an 80-piece orchestra and a choir of 300 as well as the celebrant - the Holy Father - has been constructed at Randwick Racecourse.

The sanctuary roof, covering an area of 120 metres was raised 25 metres above the ground and 17 metres from the sanctuary floor. An 86 metre ramp leading to the sanctuary has been arranged, as well as tiered seating for the 500 cardinals who are expected to concelebrate the various Masses that will be said throughout the course of the event.

WYD08 Coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher OP has said that while the sanctuary's size "will make it impressive", it will also "establish the perfect atmosphere for prayer, adoration and reflection". However the bishop also admitted that "creating a sacred and sound liturgical space on such a large scale was always going to be a challenge", but said that "the final designs are magnificent" and will "establish the perfect atmosphere for prayer, reflection and full participation in the liturgies."

The sanctuary will be decorated with "iconic" Australian works of Christian art, such as "Marjorie's Bird", and the design has been described by Mgr Guido Marini, MC to His Holiness as "youthful yet spiritual". Mgr Marini also praised the "incorporation of Australian themes", saying that "The Holy Father will be happy" with the sanctuary.

Bishop Fisher said that he was "delighted to receive such positive feedback and strong endorsement from Monsignor Marini and his colleagues".

At the final masses, His Holiness will be serenaded by the 300-strong World Youth Day choir, including some of Australia's foremost young opera singers, who will perform such musical delights as "Our Lady of the Southern Cross", as well as three soloists. The choir will be prepared by the 27-year-old "chorus-master" David Russell, of Sydney.

The population in the area is projected to double overnight before the Final Mass, which will be celebrated by the Pope.

A message from the Australian Government to WYD08 Pilgrims
30 May 2008

If you are planning to attend World Youth Day you need to register quickly to ensure your visa is processed in time.

As part of the Australian Government's support for World Youth Day, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship is providing visas for registered pilgrims free of government charges.

You are strongly encouraged to register by 1 June 2008 to allow Australian Immigration enough time to process visas. The department cannot guarantee that applications lodged after 1 June will be processed in time for pilgrims to travel to Australia in July.

The registration process includes an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) application for pilgrims who hold a passport from one of the 33 countries or regions eligible for an ETA, including the United Kingdom.

Pilgrims who are not registered can apply separately for a visa through normal processes, but this would attract a government charge.

The best place to register is through the World Youth Day website.

Further information is also available at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's website.

Welcome to The Catholic Herald’s WYD08 portal
8 May 2008

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

As Australia gears up to receive thousands of young pilgrims from around the world for World Youth Day 2008, The Catholic Herald is in the process of preparing its World Youth Day portal. It will include links to the best sites and up-to-the-minute coverage provided by kids from England and Wales when they are down under.

World Youth Day kicks off on July 15 in Sydney, with an opening Mass celebrated by Cardinal George Pell, and ends on July 20 after a final Mass with Pope Benedict XVI. Many of the young international pilgrims will be staying with host families in different Australian dioceses for the "Days in the Diocese" programme before the events in Sydney begin.

Organisers expect 225,000 pilgrims to arrive in Sydney for World Youth Day, the largest youth event worldwide, of which some 2,000 will be coming from England and Wales. To put that into context, 100,000 people will sleep in 700 parishes in schools, 2 million bread rolls will be distributed, 160,000 cans of baked beans are expected to be eaten, some 700 cardinals and bishops will be attending, 3.5 million meals will be served over the course of five days. It will cost the British pilgrim an average of £2,000 to take part.

Founded by Pope John Paul II in 1986, World Youth Day has grown into a huge international gathering, which takes place every two to three years in a different host city. The last World Youth Day was held in Cologne and in the past it was held in a variety of world cities including Toronto, Rome and Manilla.

Receive the Power
Theme Song for WYD2008

WYD08 Witness the Spirit

Older news coming soon