Kairos Catholic Journal: Archbishop: Countdown to World Youth Day

Reflections 2006
Countdown to World Youth Day – Sydney 2008

The announcement at the conclusion of the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne that the 2008 World Youth Day gathering would take place in Sydney was greeted with great joy by the Church throughout Australia.

Initially, perhaps the greatest cause for joy was the fact that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, would be visiting our shores. If it were not for this event, the chances of this Pope visiting Australia would have been very slim indeed, as he has indicated his intentions to travel much less than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Perhaps our next thought may have been that this will be an event focused on the Sydney Archdiocese and that here in Melbourne we may not be directly involved.

On both counts, these ideas greatly underestimate the real impact that World Youth Day (WYD) 2008 will have on the entire Catholic Church here in Australia, Melbourne included. Let us stop and think for a moment about the number of pilgrims that are expected to come to Australia for this event. Bishop Anthony Fisher, to whom Cardinal Pell has delegated responsibility for planning WYD 2008, has estimated that:

“It will be the biggest event ever in Australia, bigger even than the Olympics. For the opening day of the Olympics, there were some 300,000 to 400,000 people outside, plus 110,000 to 115,000 people inside the stadium, but this was spread out over an entire day. It wasn’t one big event. We imagine that for the concluding Mass of World Youth Day there will be something like a half-million people.”

It would also be wrong to think that the impact of this event will be limited to Sydney. For a start, WYD is not one event only, but a whole week of events starting with the Opening Mass on Tuesday, 15 July 2008. The Holy Father is expected to arrive on Thursday 17th, and will celebrate the closing Mass on Sunday 20th. It is expected that very many young people from Melbourne will participate in this week long programme, which will focus on catechesis, that is, the faith formation of the young pilgrims.

But even before we get to Sydney, there will be events connected with WYD here in Melbourne. The many foreign pilgrims expected to visit Australia for WYD will be spending up to a week beforehand in the various dioceses of Australia. These ‘Days in the Diocese’ are not intended to divert attention or resources from the Sydney WYD, but rather to serve as pastoral preparation for that event. They will offer the opportunity for the pilgrims to engage with the local Church in Australia.

As many as 50,000 young pilgrims could be expected to come to Melbourne. We, the people of the Church in Melbourne, will be their hosts during this time. Groups and parishes are invited to give the WYD visitors a warm welcome, to open their homes and their hearts to them, and to provide opportunities for them to join in our sacramental and devotional lives. The agencies and organisations of the Melbourne Archdiocese will invite the pilgrims to take a small part in some of their projects. In all, these days should be a spiritual, educational and social experience for the young people.

There is obviously a great deal of planning that needs to be done. For this reason, I have called together a ‘Melbourne Participation Committee’ to begin preparation for WYD 2008. This committee, which has very broad representation, will oversee the arrangements for the ‘Days in the Diocese’ in Melbourne. But it has two other tasks, and these represent perhaps the greatest tasks for us here in Melbourne.

The first task is prepare our own youth in the Melbourne Archdiocese for the event that will take place in Sydney. WYD 2008 is an opportunity to evangelise our young people. If we can encourage them to be apart of the whole WYD pilgrimage, we can expect that for many it will be a life-changing experience of the Holy Spirit which will result in a conversion of hearts to Christ and a closer relationship with the Catholic Church.

The time to begin encouraging young people is now! Current students in our colleges and youth in our parishes need to be made aware of WYD and challenged to begin planning their attendance now. Over the next two years, these young people will be able to take part in events and programmes in the Archdiocese aimed at equipping them spiritually for this encounter. Palm Sunday in both 2007 and 2008 will be a particular focus for these preparations.

The final task of the Melbourne Participation Committee will be to prepare a post-WYD pastoral programme for pilgrims on their return to Melbourne. Having ploughed the ground and sown the seed and seen the growth, we must be prepared to reap the harvest. We know from past experience that the WYD encounter awakens questions of vocation in the hearts of pilgrims. We must be ready to stand by them and help them to discern their vocations more clearly and offer them opportunities to serve as they have been called. So often, after ‘mountain-top’ experiences like WYD, there can be an earth-shattering ‘thump’ of reality upon returning back home. We must not quench the fire of zeal that is awakened in their hearts.

The theme of this coming WYD in Sydney is ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.’ (Acts 1:8) My prayer for Melbourne, as we prepare for World Youth Day in Sydney 2008, is that we will be ready to receive this power and to welcome the witnesses that arise from it.


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Archbishop Hart Biography Coat of Arms Homilies Pastoral Letters & Messages Reflections 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 Charitable Fund	Reflections 2006 Countdown to World Youth Day – Sydney 2008 The announcement at the conclusion of the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne that the 2008 World Youth Day gathering would take place in Sydney was greeted with great joy by the Church throughout Australia. Initially, perhaps the greatest cause for joy was the fact that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, would be visiting our shores. If it were not for this event, the chances of this Pope visiting Australia would have been very slim indeed, as he has indicated his intentions to travel much less than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Perhaps our next thought may have been that this will be an event focused on the Sydney Archdiocese and that here in Melbourne we may not be directly involved. On both counts, these ideas greatly underestimate the real impact that World Youth Day (WYD) 2008 will have on the entire Catholic Church here in Australia, Melbourne included. Let us stop and think for a moment about the number of pilgrims that are expected to come to Australia for this event. Bishop Anthony Fisher, to whom Cardinal Pell has delegated responsibility for planning WYD 2008, has estimated that: “It will be the biggest event ever in Australia, bigger even than the Olympics. For the opening day of the Olympics, there were some 300,000 to 400,000 people outside, plus 110,000 to 115,000 people inside the stadium, but this was spread out over an entire day. It wasn’t one big event. We imagine that for the concluding Mass of World Youth Day there will be something like a half-million people.” It would also be wrong to think that the impact of this event will be limited to Sydney. For a start, WYD is not one event only, but a whole week of events starting with the Opening Mass on Tuesday, 15 July 2008. The Holy Father is expected to arrive on Thursday 17th, and will celebrate the closing Mass on Sunday 20th. It is expected that very many young people from Melbourne will participate in this week long programme, which will focus on catechesis, that is, the faith formation of the young pilgrims. But even before we get to Sydney, there will be events connected with WYD here in Melbourne. The many foreign pilgrims expected to visit Australia for WYD will be spending up to a week beforehand in the various dioceses of Australia. These ‘Days in the Diocese’ are not intended to divert attention or resources from the Sydney WYD, but rather to serve as pastoral preparation for that event. They will offer the opportunity for the pilgrims to engage with the local Church in Australia. As many as 50,000 young pilgrims could be expected to come to Melbourne. We, the people of the Church in Melbourne, will be their hosts during this time. Groups and parishes are invited to give the WYD visitors a warm welcome, to open their homes and their hearts to them, and to provide opportunities for them to join in our sacramental and devotional lives. The agencies and organisations of the Melbourne Archdiocese will invite the pilgrims to take a small part in some of their projects. In all, these days should be a spiritual, educational and social experience for the young people. There is obviously a great deal of planning that needs to be done. For this reason, I have called together a ‘Melbourne Participation Committee’ to begin preparation for WYD 2008. This committee, which has very broad representation, will oversee the arrangements for the ‘Days in the Diocese’ in Melbourne. But it has two other tasks, and these represent perhaps the greatest tasks for us here in Melbourne. The first task is prepare our own youth in the Melbourne Archdiocese for the event that will take place in Sydney. WYD 2008 is an opportunity to evangelise our young people. If we can encourage them to be apart of the whole WYD pilgrimage, we can expect that for many it will be a life-changing experience of the Holy Spirit which will result in a conversion of hearts to Christ and a closer relationship with the Catholic Church. The time to begin encouraging young people is now! Current students in our colleges and youth in our parishes need to be made aware of WYD and challenged to begin planning their attendance now. Over the next two years, these young people will be able to take part in events and programmes in the Archdiocese aimed at equipping them spiritually for this encounter. Palm Sunday in both 2007 and 2008 will be a particular focus for these preparations. The final task of the Melbourne Participation Committee will be to prepare a post-WYD pastoral programme for pilgrims on their return to Melbourne. Having ploughed the ground and sown the seed and seen the growth, we must be prepared to reap the harvest. We know from past experience that the WYD encounter awakens questions of vocation in the hearts of pilgrims. We must be ready to stand by them and help them to discern their vocations more clearly and offer them opportunities to serve as they have been called. So often, after ‘mountain-top’ experiences like WYD, there can be an earth-shattering ‘thump’ of reality upon returning back home. We must not quench the fire of zeal that is awakened in their hearts. The theme of this coming WYD in Sydney is ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.’ (Acts 1:8) My prayer for Melbourne, as we prepare for World Youth Day in Sydney 2008, is that we will be ready to receive this power and to welcome the witnesses that arise from it. + Denis J. Hart, Archbishop of Melbourne.	As many as 50,000 young pilgrims could be expected to come to Melbourne. We, the people of the Church in Melbourne, will be their hosts during this time. Groups and parishes are invited to give the WYD visitors a warm welcome, to open their homes and their hearts to them, and to provide opportunities for them to join in our sacramental and devotional lives.