SYDNEY 2008
Germany: the first flights for Sydney110 youth from the diocese of Magonza left on June 30 headed towards Sydney, Australia, to take part in the 23rd WYD scheduled for July 15-20. The trip is organized by the Young German Catholics Federation (Bdkj) in Magonza. The spiritual and practical aspects of the trip were prepared in the course of three meetings. The group of Magonza will stay two weeks in Darwin, capital city of the Northern Territory. The German guests will devote their first week to tourism and learning about the local traditions. The Days of the dioceses will begin on July 9: the youth will be hosted by the families, taking part in cultural, spiritual, social or tourist events. At the end of the Days, the bishop of Darwin, Msgr. Daniel Hurley, will celebrate a mass with the guests – the German group will be joined by some 500 pilgrims from Italy, Perù and Costa Rica. The most consistent group of German youth attending the WYD are pilgrims from the diocese of Münster, followed by the group from Cologne, the city which hosted the WYD before last. A total number of 6,000 German pilgrims will take part in Sydney’s WYD. Along with Australia, the US and Italy, they represent the most consistent group of young people; 225.000 participants registered in the WYD offices. Of these, 100,000 come from Australia and 54,000 from Europe. The religious will be represented by 2000 priests, 700 bishops and cardinals, of which 16 German bishops. For those who will be unable to attend the WYD, a number of initiatives have been set up in the dioceses, such as the live blog, set up by the Diocese of Limburg at the website www.wjt2008.bistumlimburg.de, where WYD participants will relay Sydney’s events. Spain: the bishops of Andalusia write to the youth “Meeting Christ’s love opens up hope in the heart. Every hope, in life, is the fruit and consequence of the love we receive. And, vice versa, it is the lack of love that so many times makes us give up hope, to the point that it seems it’s not worth living at all”. This is a passage from the letter to the young to invite them to take part in a local WYD to coincide with the World Youth Day of Sidney, at the Sanctuary of El Rocio (in Almonte, diocese of Huelva): the senders are the bishops of Andalusia, who have organised a meeting from 16 to 20 July, with live link-ups with the celebrations in Australia, as a way to make the young people of Andalusia, who could not go because of the travelling costs, experience the meaning of communion and universality with the Pope and all the young people of the world who will meet in Sidney. At the Sanctuary of El Rocio, “there will be other events as well and moments of play and rest, for groups or dioceses, so that we can promise you those will be precious days, full of that wonderful, joyful, good friendship that is born of the presence of Christ amidst us”, say the bishops, speaking in particular to the young of the parishes, groups and movements, to fully understand “the gift of the Holy Spirit in everyday life”.Belgium: a mass to bid farewell to the youthOn July 3rd a Mass will bid farewell to Belgium’s youth headed for Sydney’s World Youth Day (July 15-20), together with Benedict XVI. The Mass, was organized by the national Youth Pastoral Team of Beligium’s Bishops conference. The site chosen for the event is the church of Saint Michel’s college in Brussels. “We invite our relatives and friends to participate – is written on a brochure distributed in the parishes – to share these moments preceding departure for Australia”. 120 French-speaking youth will leave for Australia and will be joined by 46 from Liège, along with young German speaking people who will be in Broken Bay for the diocese Days and will then move to Sydney. Two-hundred youth from Holland will be hosted in Armidale. The number of participants from the Emmanuel Community and of the Saint-Jean Brothers is still to be defined. Everyone’s departure is scheduled from July 3rd onwards. Those who will be staying home will convene in Banneux on July 18-10 for a week-end “Live from Sydney”: mega-screens, catechesis and celebrations will enable to live in communion with the youth present in Sydney. Those who wish to stay home can access the website Jmj.be where on July 4 a team of youth will put online updated news on the WYD with pictures and podcasts.
