World Youth Day 2008

A Pilgrimage
World Youth Day 2008 is a pilgrimage initiated by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to gather young Christians from all over the world to take part in a common celebration of faith. People between 16 and 30 are invited. They will pour into Sydney from more than 120 countries. The Pope and around a million participants are expected.  They will be accompanied by bishops and cardinals from their home countries.
A Journey of Faith
It takes place over a number of days.  Its prime objective is to make the person of Jesus the centre of the faith and life of every young person so that He may be their constant point of reference and also the inspiration of every initiative and commitment for the education of the new generations.  The event aims to give young people an opportunity to rediscover their baptismal calling and the importance of the sacraments of the Eucharist and reconciliation, and so discover a new apostolic zeal to witness more fully the Gospel in the modern world.

A Time of Christian Fellowship
Christians from around the world will come together in fellowship, to experience hospitality and the love of God.  Pilgrims are invited to attend lectures, discussions, debates on the Catholic Faith, take part in praise, worship, Mass, The Way of the Cross, Adoration, seek reconciliation, as well as attend social events, such as concerts and plays.  The event concludes with an overnight vigil and Papal Mass.

Source

World Youth Day pilgrims blog for nowwearetalking

Melbourne sisters Marlene and Melanie Fenech will be video blogging their journey before, during and after World Youth Day 2008 (WYD08).
Marlene is an 18 year old, currently studying Primary Education at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. Melanie is 21 years old, currently studying Architecture at Deakin University.
The sisters will be attending WYD with fellow members of the St Peter Chanel Parish Youth Group. Departing Melbourne on Monday 14th July, arriving home on Monday 21st July.
They will be recording daily video blogs on their Next G™ mobiles to share their journey with friends, family and nowwearetalking readers.
World Youth Day has hundreds of thousands of pilgrims traveling to Sydney this week, some for the very first time.

"It's an exciting time to be on the highways of Australia, we can’t wait to discover the common faith that we share with youth from around the world," said Marlene.
"We hope to make lifelong friendships with fellow pilgrims attending WYD08 from countries around the world."
"We can't wait to document our trip and experiences on video with our Telstra phones and our parents are thrilled they will be able to track our progress."

 Source

Free visas for Youth Day pilgrims

SUPER GREAT NEWS! And a great move for Aussie!

The Federal Government and the Catholic Church have agreed to waive visa fees for foreign tourists travelling to Sydney for next year's Catholic World Youth Day.

Under the agreement, pilgrims will be given a free, three-month visa and there will an unlimited supply for each country.

It is designed to help organisers cope with the 140,000 overseas visitors expected for the Catholic festival next July.

Assistant Immigration Minister Teresa Gambaro says the event will bring huge economic benefits to the country.

"You'll have an enormous amount of visitors coming to Australia," she said.

"We will be able to showcase our country.

"It will bring enormous tourism and other benefits to the economy."

The Federal Government has already committed $35 million to the event, which will be held at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse.

But the site of the event recently caused concern among racing officials with fears World Youth Day organisers could inadvertently spread equine influenza.

The last World Youth Day was held in Germany in 2005 and attracted more than one million people.

From:ABC News
Psst. Don't tell this to Filipinos.

World Youth Day Cross Draws Crowds in Australia

Last week, my friend went to the Parramata chruch near Church St (guess why they called it that) and saw a lot of people in the Catholic Church -- ready to welcome the WYD Cross.

"It was the first time I've seen so many people in church!".

Now that's both good and bad news.

Bad because why only the first time?

Good because the WYD cross is bringing awareness of the big WYD event next year.

Picture below courtesy of this site.

It said that the cross has been to Manhattan's Ground zero, the Korean DMZ and a host of publicly controversial places.

Now - I wonder if it will visit Hillsong in Sydney?

It should!

Shortly Aussies told to "Leave Australia" to make room

Was talking to an Australian Resident who said :

"Australia is telling its residents to GO ABROAD to MAKE ROOM for the WYD delegates? Why isn't Australia big enough?"

Or perhaps -it's the Airlines who will be providing budget fares to make people exit the country during exciting July 2009 dates.

The point of the WYD is to make Australia's Youth (Hillsong?) meet the world's Catholics, if the few Catholics go out, who will be meet? Who will tour us? The Australia' WYD Board is already people strapped as is.

No Fair! American Kids get a "YouTube Style" contest to go to Sydney for Free!

No Fair! American Kids get a "YouTube Style" contest to go to Sydney for Free!

The World Youth Day Challenge isn't even supposed to start officially until October, and already it's drawing entries to compete for the challenge's grand prize – an all-expenses-paid trip to Sydney, Australia, for World Youth Day next year.

The challenge:

1. Create a video running less than five minutes that uses the World Youth Day theme song, "Receive the Power."

2. Get people to vote for that video than for any others in an online competition.

The contest is sponsored by God Squad Communications, part of Radio Peace, the radio ministry of the Archdiocese of Miami.

"The promotion is doing far better than we expected," said Christopher Wills, the marketing manager and programming director for Radio Peace. News of the contest was released in mid-July.

Registration will close Sept. 15 for those wishing to enter the contest. Participants register online as teams of two at www.wydchallenge.com. By Oct. 15, people will be able to visit the site to start casting votes for their favorite videos.

"By May of '08 we'll know the winner of the competition, which gives plenty of time left to be able to book the flight," Wills said in a phone interview with Catholic News Service July 27. World Youth Day is scheduled for July 15-20 next year in Sydney.

The challenge's Web site says that the two people with the most votes over the course of the competition will win a trip to Sydney.

"There are several video teams that are being organized," Wills said. "They'll have to complete one challenge per month. The video will be able to go up (on the Web site) for the whole month. The people will be able to go to the Web site and vote for the videos."

Wills said a travel agency in Miami is footing the cost of the round-trip flights to Sydney. Current airfare quotes from the East Coast of the United States place a Sydney flight at $2,500-$3,000.

Visitors to the Web site also will be able to give to a "pilgrim assistance fund" to enable other young Catholics to go to Sydney.

The competition is open to any young Catholic in the United States.

Without yet having seen any of the entries himself, Wills said, "It'll definitely be very interesting, in this YouTube age, with the creativity that's out there. It's why we felt this would be a good way to get our message out there.

"We thought it would be a competition solely for this (arch)diocese but when we developed the idea, developed the program, we felt there would be people all across the United States with this talent," he added.

And now how about us in the whole world? Ahem. Ahem.

Guy Sebastian , Gay Marriage?? This is an issue?

Someone insinuated at the Catholic News Agency that Guy isn't deserving as a winning composer for the WYD- because of his views on Gay Marriage. I dropped in for a chat on the comment box. Too bad its moderated.

Welcome to my WYD Preparation Blog!

Hi. Im a pilgrim off to attend the WYD in 2008. My first WYD was in Manila. Now its going to be my first time Australia and my first time in WYD abroad. Im so excited in preparing for this! I hope I can come as a junior apologist and teach the kids how to use the Internet for the Catholic Faith!