(From our correspondents in Sydney) The Australian organization of WYD has proved its efficiency on its first real "test": the open-air mass at Barangaroo in Sydney, celebrated by the city’s archbishop, Cardinal George Pell. The some 143,000 pilgrims present at the rite flowed out of the venue after the mass in an orderly fashion, without problem, and found an efficient security service that helped them to find the right way home. Policemen with megaphones indicated the direction in which to go and how to find the nearest metro stations, while hundreds of volunteers with luminous signs formed a helpful point of reference for the youngsters who thronged the streets. Along the route the youngsters were also able to admire the new illumination of Harbour Bridge, the bridge that is a symbol of Sydney: images of the Pope and messages of welcome to the young pilgrims are being projected onto its piers during WYD. In spite of the inconvenience of some main thoroughfares closed to traffic, the inhabitants of the city seem to regard with some affection the pilgrims who have "invaded" their city, far more visible, and far greater in number, that the visitors who arrived in Sydney for the Olympics in 2000.
