SYDNEY 2008
Austria: in Australia to deepen the faith There are 750 young Austrians who will take part in Sydney’s World Youth Day scheduled for next July 15-20. The Austrian delegation will be led by His Eminence Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, President of the Bishops Conference, along with Msgr. Franz Lackner, in charge of Youth Pastoral Care. The participation of Austrian pilgrims is organized by Catholic Youth and by a number of religious groups and movements. Cardinal Schönborn will be travelling to Sydney with the seminarians from Wien. After their arrival in Australia, the youth will spend July 10-14 in different dioceses participating in the activities scheduled for the days of reception. They will then leave for Sydney, where they will join the over 225.000 youth present to take part in the official inauguration of the Wyd on July 15th, celebrated by the archbishop of Sydney Msgr. George Pell. Austrian participants will be having a private meeting with Cardinal Schönborn and with Msgr. Lackner. Considering the high costs of this WYD, the number of Austrian participants has been viewed positive by Markus Muth, Federal director of Youth Pastoral Care. “I am convinced that Sydney will be a special event for the universal Church”, claimed Muth in a colloquium with Austria’s Catholic news agency Kathpress. “The common experience of faith and community in all the continents is what makes these days especially fascinating. For many young people, these meetings are a stimulus to deepen faith or to renew it”, he concluded. Czech Republic: Velehrad like SydneyThe sanctuary of Velehrad like Sydney, as relates to the numerous Czech youth who will be unable to go to Australia to take part in the World Youth Day. For them, as for those living in the neighbouring Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, the Czech Republic is organizing a WYD together with Sydney. The purpose is to follow the Pope on mega-screens, pray and live moments of fraternity. Several thousands are expected to arrive, and for this reason in the past days 40 Slovakian and Czech youth pastoral workers convened to define the program. The meeting will be held in Velehrad on July 18 – 20 and will focus on the theme of Sydney’s WYD : “You will have strength from the Holy Spirit and will be my witnesses”. The program envisages some moments of communion with Sydney, like the Via Crucis, the Vigil and the final mass. Celebrative moments will equally mark the event along with a charity concert for Ukraine. Some 220 Czech youth will be leaving for Sydney. France: leaving in small groups 4500 French youth, accompanied by 20 bishops, will be attending Sydney’s WYD. They will be leaving “in communion” and will be divided into groups of 12-30 people, along with a spiritual assistant and companions. There will be twinnings with associations and parishes located in nearby Countries such as The Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India before reaching Australia. In order to get there, they sold fair trade goods, organized dinners, parish fund-raising, worked and set aside the necessary sums. The youth of Pontoise had a remarkable experience. Their supervisor Yann Hugonnie pointed out that the WYD “is the way in which the youth discover the true face of the Church”. New Zealand is ready to receive them. During the WYD they will be hosted by the Caldean parish in Sydney, where several hundreds of young Caldeans from Sarcelles belonging to the same group will convene. The diocese of Grenoble fixed the affordable fee of 1100 euro. At least 30 of those going will be twinning with the diocese of Darwin. The local dioceses and churches are planning a series of events which will enable those who are not leaving to attend Sydney’s WYD. From Lourdes to Rouen, from Le Mans to Annecy, from Havre to Nanterre, Rouez, Cambrai along with other French towns, all are looking forward to the WYD. Eight national events and 14thousand people will celebrate the WYD. However, mega-screens, concerts and performances will be set up throughout the Country. Australia’s WYD will be strongly perceived: major celebrations will be broadcast live, starting from the Via Crucis till the final Mass, passing through the vigil of Saturday July 19th. The website of France’s bishops conference, cef.fr, will be daily updating events and programs organised by the diocese. However, movements and associations will equally be organising special events. The Emmanuel community will gather in Paray-le-Monial, the same applies for the “Jeunes Armada” in Rouen. According to France’s Pastoral Youth, 14thousand youth will be following these events from local churches.
