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Monday, July 20, 2009

World Youth Day 2011, August 15-21, in Madrid

“I am sure Madrid will be ready to welcome the Pope as he deserves for the next World Youth Day, which will be held in the Spanish capital in 2011”

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MADRID (CNA) - The governor of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, has announced that the dates for World Youth Day 2011 will be August 15-21. She also assured the public that local officials would support the event and ensure it would be a success.

“I am sure Madrid will be ready to welcome the Pope as he deserves for the next World Youth Day, which will be held in the Spanish capital in 2011,” Aguirre said in response to the announcement.

She said she shared the sentiments of Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela of Madrid, who said the event would “have important repercussions for the social, cultural and general life of Spain.”

Aguirre said she was “very happy” that Spain was chosen as the host city for the next World Youth Day and that “it will be a great opportunity for the young people of Madrid, whether they are Catholic or not, because the Pope is a worldwide authority.”


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Monday, July 13, 2009

World Youth Day Opens in Sydney

SYDNEY — World Youth Day, the event the Roman Catholic church describes as the largest gathering of young people on the planet, began Tuesday, with 100,000 people attending a mass on a disused wharf overlooking the sparkling waters of Sydney harbor.
It was the formal beginning of six days of celebrations which will culminate on Sunday with a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI before a predicted 500,000 worshipers.
Like many mainstream Christian denominations, Roman Catholicism is struggling to maintain its following.
Young people are at the center of the battle.
“Many young people today lack hope,” the pope said last week. “They are perplexed by the questions that present themselves ever more urgently in a confusing world, and they are often uncertain which way to turn for answers.”
But the pope believes that those gathered in Sydney could be part of the solution, and that World Youth Day can be a point of renewal.
“It is my firm belief that young people are called to be instruments of that renewal, communicating to their peers the joy they have experienced through knowing and following Christ,” he said.
The 81-year-old pope arrived in Australia on Sunday, but will not formally join the celebrations until Thursday.
For days, Sydney has been crowded with pilgrims from all over the world, moving around in happy groups, identifiable by the yellow, orange and red backpacks that they have been given.
It has been a formidable logistics operation. Thousands of young pilgrims are sleeping in sports halls, churches and schools across the city.
And the event has found some unusual supporters - 282 pilgrims from Argentina, Brazil, and the United States are sleeping at the Malek Fahd Islamic School in a suburb of Sydney.
“This was a good opportunity to extend our hand in friendship and break down the barriers and misunderstandings between religions,” said Pinad El-Ahmad, who is in charge of inter-religious activities at the school.
“Hospitality is part of our Islamic teaching. We know that the Prophet opened his house and mosque to non-Muslims, and so it is only right that we should do the same,” she said.
Preparations for World Youth Day have not been without controversy.
In an attempt to ensure that the event ran smoothly, the state government in New South Wales passed a law banning people from “annoying” pilgrims, sparking protests that it was an infringement on civil liberties.
A federal court Tuesday struck down the law, paving the way for demonstrators to hand out condoms and coat hangers, references to the Catholic Church’s opposition to birth control and abortions they say are the inevitable result.
Many Australians are also uncomfortable that the local and federal governments are subsidizing the event with more than 150 million Australian dollars. Although Australia does not have the same constitutional separation of church and state as the United States, some people are unhappy that the Catholic Church, to which a quarter of Australians belong, appears to be receiving preferential treatment.
Another longstanding problem also resurfaced.
In the last two weeks, Cardinal George Pell, the archbishop of Sydney, has come under close scrutiny for his handling of a sexual abuse case involving a priest.
In 2003, the cardinal sent a letter to an alleged abuse victim, Anthony Jones, dismissing his claims to have been abused by a priest, in part, he said, because there had been no other claims against the priest in question, the Rev. Terence Goodall.
However, on the day he sent the letter to Mr. Jones, the cardinal wrote to another victim, accepting his abuse claim against Father Goodall.
Cardinal Pell denied any coverup, saying his comments to Mr. Jones were “badly worded and a mistake.” He has reopened the inquiry into Mr. Jones’s allegations.
The pope has indicated that he will offer an apology for sexual abuse by priests, as he did on his recent visit to the United States.

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Monday, July 6, 2009

World Youth Day pilgrims start walk

THE first of thousands of colourfully dressed young people have set off on a three-hour pilgrimage through Sydney to Randwick Racecourse, where Pope Benedict XVI will conduct the final mass of the Catholic World Youth Day celebrations tomorrow.
Throughout the day, pilgrims will walk the 9km from North Sydney, through central Sydney and the eastern suburbs to Royal Randwick.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed at 2am (AEST) for only the third time in its history while roads in the city centre and 25 suburbs have also been closed for the pilgrimage.
The Pope will participate in a vigil this evening with the pilgrims, which will include a candlelight ceremony.
Many of the pilgrims will sleep over at the racecourse tonight ahead of tomorrow's final papal mass, which at least 300,000 people are expected to attend.
Braving the dark and the early morning cold, more than 1000 excited pilgrims left North Sydney at 6am (AEST).

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