Wonder what will happen, what it might mean to people.



"I WAS 20 when I went to World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005. I was shopping around for a church.

Baptised a Catholic, I attended church but found parts of the teachings troubling, particularly papal infallibility, contraception, abortion and homosexuality.

In retrospect, the only reason I went was because a friend persisted, but I don't regret that decision to this day. I have many cherished moments, but the one that changed my life was during the final Papal Mass.

For some bizarre reason I was picked to be among the contingent on stage with Pope Benedict XVI.

Considering how I felt towards the Pontiff, it was a bit like going to a dinner party after bitching about the host. Awkward. But during the "sign of peace", the Pope caught my eye.

In that one second I saw him and I knew he saw me. I felt an overwhelming sense of love for him which, due to my ill feelings to the church at the time, I can only attribute to God moving me.

The moment didn't change how I felt about the church's teachings, but it did provide the encouragement to find out the truth for myself.

The effects of past World Youth Days have been profound. A friend of mine from Canberra who was into drugs and alcohol was forced by his parents to go to World Youth Day in Rome as a "punishment" in 2000.

He walked around St Peter's Basilica, bored and convinced that Christianity was false, until he came to a simple crucifix.

"While looking at Jesus on the cross, I felt him say to me, interiorly, that he had died for me," he said.

"In that moment I experienced the presence of Jesus in such a way that it left no room for doubt of his love."

A few years later that friend entered a seminary.

The media's coverage of World Youth Day has been distorted, to say the least. Traffic delays, unprecedented security, disgruntled horse trainers, a titanic budget funded by taxpayers. Really, can it get any worse?

But I believe World Youth Day will not only reinvigorate the Catholic Church in Australia, but the way all Australians view religion, beyond the mindless stereotypes.

No doubt Sydney will be inconvenienced by World Youth Day. But that won't be the only story to be told."


http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23964658-5001031,00.html

World Youth Day? Nope. Not interested; except, what's with the anti-annoyance powers? Are Catholics and christians so thin-skinned and hyper-sensitive that they need these "protections"?

Easel - I did not see them, but that's great they were not religious !!!



"WITH Sydney's main streets empty of traffic for World Youth Day celebrations, the footpaths have been flooded with the music and dancing of excited pilgrims.

On one side of George Street, closed today from 10am to midnight (AEST), a group of frenzied Germans clad in their country's red, yellow and black were bopping and singing this morning, accompanied by a guitar.

But they were getting drowned out by a huge group of Brazilians on the other side, draped in their country's flag and banging drums, shaking tambourines, dancing and chanting.

"We're singing a religious song," Brazilian pilgrim Rudimar Gouveia said.

"We're singing about how we feel in our heart. We have met a lot of people and have been talking about what Jesus Christ has meant to our lives."

Local pilgrims Con Tablan and Nazareth Atielza, from Sydney's western suburbs, said the event seemed to have transformed the city.

"The atmosphere is so much more positive than it was before," Atielza said.

"On a normal day everyone is busy keeping to themselves but today everyone is saying hi to strangers, it's awesome.

"It feels pretty different on the streets," Tablan added.

"When you see someone else with a World Youth Day backpack, you get an automatic hello."

But some shopkeepers up and down George Street were not sharing the festive spirit, worried about what road closures mean for business.

"A lot of our local people are out of town," said Naomi Sumerti, a sales representative in the beauty department at Myer.

"We're busy with tourists but they're not buying anything. They are buying duty free rather than buying from us."

"Business has definitely been affected," said Jacques Baran at George's Electronics on George Street.

"The regular customers hear on the news that George Street will be closed and they stay away. Those here for World Youth Day are buying accessories like films and batteries. They are not making big buys."

Some cafes and retailers that rely on the local business crowd were also cautious about sales this week.

Sandra Ann Beetge, owner of Cafe Chianti on the corner of George and Market streets, said she expected to be stung by the celebrations.

"A lot of our locals have been told to stay away," she said.

A saleswoman at Dymocks, who preferred to remain anonymous, said while tourists had boosted business over recent days, she expected the week to be slow now the pilgrims were busy.

"Without the normal flow-through traffic I do think it will make a difference this week," she said.

"I think we'll be quiet, apart from the odd few people wanting maps."


http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24022884-5003402,00.html

Parents of priest's sex abuse victims plan to confront pope

http://news.smh.com.au/world/parents-of-priests-sex-abuse-victims-plan-to-confront-pope-20080716-3g3k.html

The scandal over sex abuse by priests which has partly overshadowed Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Australia intensified Wednesday after the parents of two victims said they planned to confront him.

The pope has said he will apologise to victims of predatory priests during his visit to Australia for World Youth Day this week, which has attracted an estimated 215,000 pilgrims from around the world.

But the father of two girls abused by a Melbourne priest, one of whom committed suicide, said he and his wife would travel back to Australia from Europe for a confrontation.

"I'll accept an apology if the pope will wholeheartedly embrace the notion of begging forgiveness from victims and supporting them in every way possible and putting the full resources behind that support so they can have a reasonable life," Anthony Foster told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Foster's daughter Emma committed suicide this year aged 26, after struggling to deal with abuse by a priest while she was at primary school.

Her sister Katie was also abused and turned to alcohol in her teens before being involved in a motor accident which left her brain-damaged.

Pell last week ordered an independent, church-appointed panel to investigate claims he had tried to cover up sexual abuse allegations in 2003.

"CATHOLIC World Youth Day pilgrims are one of the most well-behaved groups of young people police have seen.

"I've never seen a crowd like this, it's even better than an Olympic crowd," New South Wales police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said today.

"Hundreds of thousands of young people moving through the city not affected by drugs and alcohol has been such a wonderful experience.

"It just shows what can happen when you have people who aren't affected by alcohol."

Mr Scipione said he hoped local young people would follow the example set by the "joyous" Catholic pilgrims.

"There are many lessons to come out of World Youth Day, and if that's one of them then we'll be very pleased."


Security will be tight for Sunday's final mass, before which tens of thousands of young Catholics join a vigil, sleeping out at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday night.

"This is as if we were running a presidential security operation," Mr Scipione said.

"An event of this size and nature is always going to throw up security problems but in that regard we've been two years planning and preparing for this particular event.

"We're right on top of what we expect."


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24039560-12377,00.html



Pretty good when the cops give you the thumbs up.

freediver wrote on Jul 18^th, 2008 at 2:20pm:


Hmmmm that's a bit precious. They give kids alcohol for bad coughs too. It's an ingredient of some cough medicine.

I wonder if Muslims have medicine that contains alcohol too?