206 thousand young people from 160 countries have registered since 2nd March, of whom 140 thousand come from abroad, the rest are Australians. These are the latest figures about the registrations for the WYD of Sidney 2008 (15-20 July) supplied at the preparatory meeting that is ending in Sidney today. "Add to these figures stated Geoff Morris, director of the Pilgrim Service Office another 20 thousand individual registrations". The Continent which will be sending most people is America, with the US taking the biggest share with about 40 thousand registrations, followed by Europe, then Africa with 7 thousand people. Before such figures, the organising committee is having unexpected problems: "70% of participants asked to listen to the catechesis in one language: English. This involves some problems as we have to find enough English-speaking bishops". Things are better for the accommodation: "100 thousand beds have already been found in 600 places, including some provided by the Jewish and Muslim communities and other Christian denominations. A second inspection before the end of 2007 will see if extra toilets and showers will need to be built. 40 thousand pilgrims will be living with families".
