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CANBERRA - About 20 Catholic pilgrims who attended World Day Youth services in Australia with Pope Benedict XVI last month have claimed asylum, with more applications expected, refugee advocates said on Tuesday. The majority of applicants were from Africa, including Zimbabwe, where political and economic upheaval have driven millions to flee, as well as Cameroon, Burundi and Kenya, the Sydney-based Asylum Seeker Centre said. "We are seeing utter destitution, we see malnutrition, we are seeing depression, we see homelessness. People are coming to us from a place of crisis," centre spokeswoman Tamara Domicelj told Reuters. Rights watchdog Amnesty International said...

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- In what is often seen as one of the most intensely secular nations in the world, Australia received a wake-up call: the faith of the church on public display over the weeklong celebrations of World Youth Day. For young Catholics used to seeing a steady annual decline in figures such as Mass attendance -- now estimated at approximately 13 percent of Catholics nationally -- and feeling like the only young person in the local parish, the sight of an estimated 300,000 pilgrims from around the nation and overseas may well have provided a much-needed shot in...

Sydney, Jul. 18, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Meeting on July 18 with a group of young people recovering from drug addiction and other problems, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told them that they could be "ambassadors of hope to others." The Pope saluted the young people for having shown "courage in choosing to turn back onto the path of life." The Holy Father began his speech by citing the words of Moses to the people of Israel: "I set before you life or death, blessing or curse." In response, he observed, the Hebrews "had to turn away from other gods...

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Two young Chileans thought they were the object of a joke when they received e-mails saying they would ride the boat-a-cade that would take Benedict XVI to his World Youth Day arrival. Jorge Juárez and Ane Marie Kampp registered for a random drawing on the official World Youth Day page, without thinking seriously that that click would make possible an unforgettable adventure, reported the Chilean episcopal conference. Juárez said he has been serving the Church for years, but what he experienced in Sydney would make him deepen his faith. "I feel the responsibility to...

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI expressed his deep sorrow for the suffering of sexual abuse victims during his homily at Mass with Australian clergy. Departing from his prepared homily during the Saturday liturgy at St. Mary's Cathedral, the Pope said, "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." The Pontiff's prepared speech addressed acknowledge "the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this...

In these days I too have come, as the Successor of Saint Peter, to this magnificent land of Australia. I have come to confirm you, my young brothers and sisters, in your faith and to encourage you to open your hearts to the power of Christ's Spirit and the richness of his gifts. I pray that this great assembly, which unites young people "from every nation under heaven" (cf. Acts 2:5), will be a new Upper Room. May the fire of God's love descend to fill your hearts, unite you ever more fully to the Lord and his Church, and...

With WYD's grand finale shortly to come -- the climactic closing liturgy at Randwick (vidstreams and Missal) begins at 10am local (2300GMT, 7pm ET Saturday) -- in one of the week's many nods to Australia's indigenous community, topping the stage at the major events has been a popular Aboriginal rendering of the Holy Spirit known as "Marjorie's Bird." Now, with the design about to take on an even bigger visibility as a key element of the specially-designed vestments for tomorrow's liturgy, Marjorie Liddy, the Tiwi islander behind the image (who never painted before seeing its outline in the sky...

HOMILY OF POPE BENEDICT XVI VIGIL OF THE XXIII WORLD YOUTH DAYRANDWICK RACECOURSESYDNEY19 JULY 2008 Dear Young People, Once again this evening we have heard Christ’s great promise – "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you". And we have heard his summons – "be my witnesses throughout the world" – (Acts 1:8). These were the very last words which Jesus spoke before his Ascension into heaven. How the Apostles felt upon hearing them, we can only imagine. But we do know that their deep love for Jesus, and their trust in his word, prompted...

On 18 July 2008 in the Church of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame in Darlinghurst,  the Holy Father delivered the following discourse to the youth and staff involved in the 'Alive' program. Dear Young Friends,I am pleased to be with you at Darlinghurst today, and I warmly greet all those taking part in the "Alive" programme, as well as the staff who run it. I pray that you will all benefit from the assistance offered by the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Social Services Agency, and that the good work being done here will continue long into the...

Sydney has never seen anything like it since the Olympics. Not even that event, however, could match the spectacle of a papal ‘boatacade’ gliding past the bridge and the opera house to deliver Pope Benedict into the cheering embrace of 150,000 young people from around the world. The Pope’s arrival at World Youth Day had a theatrical quality worthy of the media world in which today’s young people live. By contrast, his message to them was delivered in a self-effacing, direct manner, making clear that the Pope refuses to cast himself as a rock star; he is a teacher and...

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- For some participants at World Youth Day, the joy of welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the World Youth Day celebration July 17 was dampened by the absence of a Chaldean Catholic delegation from Iraq. Salina Hasham, a World Youth Day employee, has been working for months trying to get the 170-member Iraqi delegation to Sydney. At first, it seemed the Australian government would not issue any visas to the group, Hasham said. Then 10 visas were granted and, finally, a total of 25 visas were approved. But as of July 17, she said, "they are stuck...

Sydney, Jul 18, 2008 / 09:36 am (CNA).- Spectacular scenes were played out across Sydney city’s landmarks, as part of the re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross for WYD. An audience of half a billion tuned in to watch the performance that involved around 80 performers and was played out by young people at six major venues. Over 270,000 international and local spectators also made their way to points around the city to watch the Stations of the Cross live and on big screen televisions. The first station held on the steps of St Mary’s Cathedral was attended...

IN a return to tradition, the Pope will tomorrow offer communion to kneeling Catholics, and preferably on the tongue rather than in the hand. The final World Youth Day mass at Sydney's Randwick racecourse will attract up to half a million worshippers and will be beamed to as many as a billion viewers around the world. A firm believer in the importance and beauty of liturgical traditions, the Pope will seek to set an example to a massive audience with his return to pre-1960s ritual. "The Holy Father has requested that those whom he gives communion to will kneel, and...

Is Pope Benedict a “rock star”? The question came up recently in Tim Drake’s coverage of World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, at the Register’s weblog, Pope2008.com, where we are following World Youth Day activities. He found two stories in the the Sydney media comparing World Youth Day to a rock concert and calling Pope Benedict XVI the concert’s “headliner.” It’s a good question to ask, because there are so many superficial similarities between the weeklong World Youth Day and rock-’n’-roll festivals that have attracted young people since Woodstock. But we can think of at least 10 ways World Youth...

A BROTHEL offering a special discount during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Sydney said business had more than doubled since the pontiff arrived. While the brothel was not targeting pilgrims, a 10 percent discount for people associated with World Youth Day, including the 3000 to 5000 media covering the papal visit, had significantly boosted business, she said. "We put on another five staff and they've all been busy," she said. The owner said the pope's mid-winter Australian visit, for celebrations designed to rejuvenate the Catholic Church among young people, came at a time when business was traditionally slow.

Sydney, Jul 17, 2008 / 02:34 pm (CNA).- The “Vocations Expo,” which has given religious congregations a chance to showcase their charisms and apostolates to the young people attending World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney has been “a true success,” organizers have revealed.Diverse congregations, institutes and movements are reaching out to the thousands of young people that have flooded the vocations fair located at the Sydney Exhibition Center at Darling Harbor.  The vocations expo was opened on July 15 and will end on Sunday, July 20, at the close of WYD.According to Father Donai Pellonar, coordinator of the Vocations Expo,...

Pope Benedict XVI on the Pope-a-boat under Sydney Harbour Bridge Sydney, Jul 17, 2008 / 07:00 am (CNA).- In the midst of jubilant crowds, the Papal “Boat-a-cade” arrived at Barangaroo this afternoon, after sailing around Sydney Harbour, where the Pope waved to tens of thousands people who had lined the foreshore to catch a glimpse of the Pontiff's arrival. “His Holiness stood waving in full-view of the crowd on board the vessel,” said WYD08 spokesman Father Mark Podesta. The Papal Boat carried approximately 530 people including 168 international pilgrims. After thanking the indigenous people of Australia for their warm...

Lest anyone be surprised, everyone's favorite schismatic traditionalist group isn't so high on WYD: The priests, from the Holy Cross Seminary in the New South Wales town of Goulburn, are members of the Society of St Pius the 10th, which is opposed to innovations that followed the Second Vatican Council. In a sharp rebuke of World Youth Day festivities in Sydney, Holy Cross Rector Father Peter Scott said World Youth Day did nothing to help prepare the way for Catholics to reach heaven. "The reason I'm not in favour of World Youth Day is because of what happens and what...

Fr Federico Lombardi, S.J., Director of the Holy See Press Office and Vatican Radio, introduced the question-and-answer session.Lucio Brunelli (Italian Television - RAI): Your Holiness, this is your second World Youth Day. The first - let us say - that is entirely your own. What are your feelings as you prepare for it and what is the main message that you want to communicate to the young people? Then, do you think that World Youth Days deeply affect the life of the Church that hosts them? And, lastly, do you think that the formula of these youth meetings on...

p>SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils is praying for peace and harmony among all people of good will during the World Youth Day activities in Sydney. President Ikebal Patel sent out a statement this week in which he extended "sincere greetings to the Catholic community of Australia on behalf of the Muslims of Australia." He continued, "I take this opportunity on behalf of the Muslims of Australia to also extend our good wishes to all Australians of all faiths on this auspicious occasion of World Youth Day and pray for peace, harmony and goodwill...

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Sydney says that World Youth Day is helping to restore a key element for the life of the Church -- the sacrament of reconciliation. To this end, Cardinal George Pell has made sure the sacrament is readily available in the host city this week. Priests, who received with their accreditation a schedule for hearing confessions, are located throughout the city in real and makeshift confessionals. You see them under the trees of the Domain, around the waters of Darling Harbor and in the alcoves of every city church. Notre Dame University...

Simply marvelous! Inhale the exuberant joy of this description of the impact of WYD pilgrims and you can see God is already mightily at work softening the hearts of Sydneysiders. "THE sun was just rising. It was around 6am and bloody cold on Sunday morning at the top of a hill in a suburban street in Sydney's Berowra Heights. That's when I first saw it. As I started off for a run, the chatter of two young women could be heard. Then, from the fog, they emerged. Bleary-eyed, no doubt from a rough night on the floor, and under-dressed...

THE Pope was to leave his rural retreat by motorcade for central Sydney tonight ahead of his first official appearance tomorrow at World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations. The motorcade carrying Pope Benedict XVI was scheduled to leave the Opus Dei-run retreat at Kenthurst, on Sydney's northwestern outskirts, at 6pm (AEST). The 81-year-old has been resting at the Kenthurst Study Centre since arriving in Sydney from Rome on Sunday. The Pope was to be taken to St Mary's Cathedral House in central Sydney, where he will stay for the remainder of his time in the city. Tomorrow is the Pope's first...

Friend and fellow blogger Dawn Eden, touring Australia for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the country for World Youth Day, reported on her site on Tuesday that she fell prey to the Down Under version of liberal media bias. "A Current Affair," a program on Sky Television that shares the same name and ilk with the Maury Povich program, interviewed Eden, an author and convert to Catholicism, for a segment they labeled "No Sex Pilgrims" (video available here). The Aussie tabloid television reporters who featured her seemed incredulous that anyone in this day and age would live chastely. ...[C]orrespondent Ben...

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- In brilliant winter sunshine the old docklands at Barrangaroo became a moving sea of national flags unfurling above the heads of the 150,000 pilgrims who had come from different corners of the earth to celebrate one faith and liturgy. Among the flags was one from China: About 60 pilgrims from mainland China attended World Youth Day in Sydney. Among them were priests not registered with the Chinese government who, for the first time in their lives, wore the black and white collar that identifies them as a Catholic priest. The Chinese pilgrims said they were ecstatic...

Sydney's Polish-Catholic community World Youth Day coordinator, 24-year-old Basia Slusarczyk, explained to ZENIT that her non-Catholic boyfriend is participating in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. His conversion was triggered by the experience of praying with her for the fruits of World Youth Day. "He is attending World Youth Day with me and I hope the week of events and the solidarity with so many Catholics from around the world will make him proud to be joining the Catholic family," Basia said. She was with a group of young Polish-Australians dressed in traditional Polish dancing uniforms at the veneration...

p>SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Photos show Benedict XVI enjoying his days of rest Down Under -- praying, working and delighting in a classical music concert. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, told journalists that the Pope is "absolutely serene and resting." Some members of the Australian press had painted a bleak picture of the Pontiff's health, saying that the Holy Father was extremely exhausted after his flight of more than 20 hours. But the Vatican spokesman presented a video Monday afternoon, local time, showing the Pope praying and walking with his secretaries at the...

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- World Youth Day is already bringing converts to the Catholic Church, and it hasn't even started yet. Sydney's Polish-Catholic community World Youth Day coordinator, 24-year-old Basia Slusarczyk, explained to ZENIT that her non-Catholic boyfriend is participating in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. His conversion was triggered by the experience of praying with her for the fruits of World Youth Day. "He is attending World Youth Day with me and I hope the week of events and the solidarity with so many Catholics from around the world will make him proud to be...

TV Schedule for World Youth Day 2008  Date ET PT GMT Program Name Description Tue 07/15/08 2:00 AM Mon 11 PM 6:00 WORLD YOUTH DAY 2008 ~ OPENING MASS WITH CARDINAL PELL (LIVE) (3 hrs) Presided over by Cardinal George Pell, this Mass formally celebrates the opening of WYD 2008. A much-anticipated feature of the Mass will be the arrival of the WYD Cross and Icon. Tue 07/15/08 12 PM 9 AM 16:00 Encore Tue 07/15/08 9 PM 6 PM 1:00 Encore Wed 07/16/08 12 AM Tues 9 PM 4:00 Encore           Thu 07/17/08 12:30...

Gay groups say police are unnecessarily scrutinising them over activities planned for Sydney's World Youth Day, as civil libertarians rile at new police powers for this month's week-long event. Lapsed Catholic Luke Roberts is a homosexual activist and performer who goes by the stage name Pope Alice, a character best described as a celestial being of indeterminate gender. Along with Pope Benedict, Pope Alice will also be in Sydney during World Youth Day, hosting a "kiss-in" along Oxford Street in Darlinghurst. "I want to see Pope Alice express herself as a focal point for anybody - gays, lesbians, transgender, queers,...

Catholics pray next to the coffin of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati at St. Benedict's Church in Sydney, Australia, July 2. The body of Blessed Pier Giorgio, who died in 1925, arrived from Turin, Italy, for World Youth Day. Blessed Pier Giorgio has a following among young Catholics. (CNS/Reuters) Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is a saint for the modern world, and especially for the young people of our time. Born in 1901 in Turin, Italy, his time on earth was short-only 24 years-but he filled it passionately with holy living. Pier Giorgio was a model of virtue, a "man of...

ROME, MARCH 12, 2008 (Zenit.org).- As young people worldwide prepare for the upcoming diocesan and international World Youth Days, Benedict XVI is sending out the message that he's looking for more than just a party. Monsignor Mauro Parmeggiani, Rome’s diocesan director for youth ministry, explained to ZENIT that the Pope wants to transform the traditional meeting with the youth, “which was a sort of party, into a real celebration, not only an external celebration." The monsignor said the reason to celebrate at a youth day is in reality "an interior one, that of the meeting of man with God, with...

Sydney, Aug 16, 2007 / 10:20 am (CNA).- Sydney’s Muslim leaders have offered to open their mosques and school halls to Catholic pilgrims for World Youth Day 2008. The announcement was made after WYD organizers met with more than a dozen Islamic religious and community leaders on Monday for a briefing about the international Catholic youth event. WYD Coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher said the briefing was also a chance to consider ways that the Islamic community might collaborate by offering hospitality, hosting interfaith activities, or volunteering at WYD. The Church has committed that it will not try to convert members...

SYDNEY, Australia, AUG. 29, 2006 (Zenit.org).- World Youth Day 2008 has announced the appointment of Father Peter Williams as the director of liturgy for the youth event in Sydney. As director of liturgy, Father Williams is a key member of the organizational team with a central role in the planning and conduct of the welcome Mass, Papal arrival, the evening vigil and the closing Mass. Currently the dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta, Sydney, Father Williams has been the executive secretary of the National Liturgical Commission since 2000, and is also the director of liturgy in the Diocese of...

Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday he became convinced he should become a priest to help confront what he called the "anti-human culture" of the Nazis in his native Germany. Benedict made the comments during a meeting with thousands of young people in St. Peter's Square during which he took questions from five students on issues such as the family, how to read the Bible and faith and reason. Asked by one student how he realized his own priestly vocation, the 78-year-old pontiff said that when he was young in Germany it was more "normal" to accept faith and vocations than...

A six year old boy from Dusseldorf suffering from cancer was blessed by Pope Benedict XVI. during the last World Youth Day before the beginning of the meeting with the seminarists. It turns out now, that little Victor is in good health again, as reported by the German newspapers "Bild" and "Express" on last Tuesday. Details concerning the healing have not been known. After his encounter with the Pope, Victor was treated once with chemotherapy, the reports say. Whatever has caused the healing: everybody is very happy that Victor is in good health again.

The Revolution of God, the first book produced by Pope Benedict XVI since his election to the papacy, was released by the Vatican on October 11. The 130-page book contains all of the speeches that the Holy Father delivered during World Youth Day celebrations in Cologne, Germany, from August 18 to 21. It also includes the text of his remarks at a general audience on August 24, after his return, commenting on the trip. The Italian-language edition was produced jointly by the Vatican publishing house, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, and St. Paul Editions. Separate editions, in appropriate translations, will be available...

DUESSELDORF, Germany – While hundreds of thousands of young Roman Catholics sing and dance their way through World Youth Day festivities, some start each morning in silent prayer attending the rarely celebrated old Latin Mass. It was standing room only in the large Saint Antonius church in Duesseldorf, one of several venues for the Catholic youth jamboree centred in nearby Cologne, as over 300 young believers gathered on Wednesday morning for Mass in the ancient language. The traditional liturgy, almost forgotten since the Church switched to vernacular tongues for its services, is full of reverent rituals and ornate vestments which...

ROMA August 25, 2005 – He had announced it since his first morning as pope, in the seminal address delivered in the Sistine Chapel on April 20: “The Eucharist will be the centre of the World Youth Day in Cologne in August.” And what he said, he did. To the million young people gathered from 197 countries for four days in the city that keeps the relics of the Magi – even to those of little faith and the non-baptized – Benedict XVI preached “the inconceivable greatness of a God who humbled himself even to appearing in a manger,...

RELATED NEWS: “God has given us the perfect Pope,” says Spanish archbishop Argentine bishop: “Benedict XVI’s challenges attract and captivate young people” Archbishop of Havana: WYD unlike any other youth event Pope and youth stop to adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament Pope recalls WYD, prays event may inspire more vocations Cologne, Aug. 24, 2005 (CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI recalled today the gathering of hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world in Cologne, Germany, for World Youth Day last week. “Young people from all cultures of the world gathered as pilgrims seeking Jesus Christ, whom...

A free festival of faithImagine Woodstock, but with Catholic teenagers instead of rock fans.    That's what it was like Saturday, when thousands of international pilgrims gathered in a field in Marienfeld, a former coal mine on the outskirts of Cologne to listen to a message from their new pope, sleep under the stars, and for some, dance and sing throughout the night. The story • World Youth Day gallery: Previous Friday, August 19 Pope's arrival a 'beautiful moment'For two days, the murky Rhine River has been something Catholic pilgrims to this city rode over to get somewhere else: the...

Pope Benedict XVI, during the closing Mass for World Youth Day in Cologne, announced that Sydney, Australia will be hosting World Youth Day in 2008. He made the announcement in the English language.

COLOGNE, Germany -- After nearly a week of being very low-key about their nationality, a group of young Catholics from the South Hills began flying the stars and stripes yesterday.

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - Young priests in sharp suits and sunglasses are turning heads and winning hearts at the Catholic World Youth Day festival in Cologne. They are the type of men Pope Benedict hopes will secure the future of the Church and inspire youngsters to choose a religious life, which may be why he has insisted on addressing seminarians personally during his four-day visit to Germany. Churches in North America and Europe are crying out for priests. To some of the 400,000 youngsters attending the event, the sight of a young man in a priest's collar or black suit...

Pope Benedict XVI, rigt, talks to German President Horst Koehler, left, in Koehler's presedential residence in Bonn, western Germany, Friday, Aug. 19, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI on Friday became the second Pope to visit a synagogue, stopping to pray and remember Holocaust victims with Cologne's Jewish community. (AP Photo/Jochen Luebke, pool) Pope Benedict enters a Cologne synagogue together with an unidentified member of the Cologne Jewish community in Germany August 19, 2005. Pope Benedict on Friday entered the Cologne synagogue, that was destroyed by the Nazis during the anti-Jewish Crystal Night riots in 1938 and rebuilt in 1959, becoming only...

I was reading this account of the Pope's trip along the river today, even the repairing of the cross and it struck me how literally the Prophecy of St. John Bosco alluded to in this blog earlier is being fulfilled. An icon of Mary was right beside the cross next to the Pope on the boat and as soon as the boat landed the Pope made his way to the Blessed Sacrament at the conclusion of the trip. Remarkable! As you may recall the original prophecy refers to two popes...the first most definitely was John Paul II and of...

"Let Yourselves Be Surprised by Christ!" COLOGNE, Germany, AUG. 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the message Benedict XVI addressed from a ship on the Rhine River this afternoon to young people gathered in Cologne. * * * [In German] Dear Young People, I am delighted to meet you here in Cologne on the banks of the Rhine! You have come from various parts of Germany, Europe and the rest of the world as pilgrims in the footsteps of the Magi. Following their route, you too want to find Jesus. Like them, you have begun this journey in...

COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- Hundreds of thousands of young people gave Pope Benedict XVI a rousing welcome on the banks of the Rhine River, cheering as he urged them to discover the "liberating experience of the church." The pope used his first World Youth Day encounter Aug. 18 to cast a wide spiritual invitation, asking youths -- whether baptized or unbaptized, practicing or nonpracticing -- to open their hearts to God. "Let yourselves be surprised by Christ. Let him have the 'right of free speech' during these days," the pope said. An estimated 300,000 youths lined the riverbanks, some standing...

EWTN will provide LIVE coverage of this historic event. The Eternal Word Television Network is available through most cable and dish network providers. Check your local listing for appropriate channel. Specials schedule is subject to change without notice. POPE BENEDICT XVI VISIT TO THE SYNAGOGUE, COLOGNE, GERMANY(60:00) LIVE Friday  August 19, 6:00 AM

The plane carrying Pope Benedict XVI flies over the Vatican flag before touch-down at the Cologne-Bonn airport August 18, 2004. Pope Benedict arrived in his German homeland on Thursday on the first international trip of his pontificate, a visit to the World Youth Day attended by hundreds of thousands of young Catholics. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Pope Benedict XVI looks out of the plane's window as he arrives at the Cologne-Bonn airport August 18, 2005. Pope Benedict arrived in his German homeland on Thursday on the first international trip of his pontificate, a visit to the World Youth Day attended by hundreds...