Australia blessed by World Youth Day
Published on 20 August, 2008
Australia has had the honour of hosting World Youth Day (WYD) this year and the celebrations definitely lived up to the hype.
Organised by the Catholic Church, WYD is the largest youth event in the world. It is a celebration of the Catholic faith, although everyone is welcome to attend and attend they did. World Youth Day 2008 marked the largest gathering of people in Australian history.
By student reporter Jayde Horn
Astounding numbers of pilgrims travelled from all over the world to join in world youth day celebrations. Australia was host to 125 000 international visitors, which is more than the 2000 Olympics.
Catholics from Samoa, Vietnam, Jamaica, Ireland and Spain, just to name a few were united as one to rejoice and celebrate World Youth Day in Australia.
So what is World Youth Day? Many are unaware of how huge the event actually is. The event required 8000 volunteers who were in charge of everything from crowd control to the running of the 450 activities.
Established by Pope John Paul II in 1986, WYD is an event organised to reach out to the youth of the world and rejuvenate the church to practice the Catholic faith on a more regular basis.
World Youth Day is an invitation from the Pope to the youth of the world to celebrate their faith around a particular theme. This year the theme was:
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witness," Acts 1:8
World Youth Day celebrations lasted over five days and this year the events took place from the 15th - 20th of July.
However thousands chose to begin their week early when they camped out overnight in the freezing cold to welcome Australia's first ever World Youth Day.
The 17th of July marked Pope Benedict XVI's first ever visit to Australia. 500 000 people welcomed His Holiness at the opening mass at the Boat-a-cade at Barangaroo. The arrival was watched live by an estimated international TV audience of 500 million and including internet access, 1 billion.
WYD ended on the 20th July with a final mass with Pope Benedict XVI, The mass gathered 400 000 people at the Southern Cross Precinct.
Pope Benedict travelled to Australia to address the world's youth; however his visit also included a trip to the zoo where he met six Australian native animals. He ate lunch with twelve lucky Australians. He confirmed 24 people - 14 Australian and 10 International visitors. His Holiness also lunched with fifty current and retired bishops and kissed four small children.
WYD celebrations came in the form of eating, acting, singing, dancing, speeches and many others.
Activities ranged from a BBQ where 220 000 slices of bread were consumed, to a choir that consisted of over 300 singers and an 80 piece orchestra.
WYD also produced 1000 priests to hear confession and religious principals and discussions (catechesis) were delivered at 235 locations across Sydney in 29 different languages.
Although one of the most intense tributes to the Catholic faith was the journey of the cross and icon. The cross and icon are a theatrical and devotional re-enactment of Jesus' last days on earth.
The Cross and icon arrived in Australia on 1 July 2007 and began its 12 month national tour. It passed through 400 communities and travelled 800 000 km. The powerful display arrived on the 18th of July and was set to pass through Sydney for 15 days when its journey will end.
The next World Youth Day will be held in Madrid, Spain in 2011.