"For the young in the diocese of Paris, the World Youth Day is not just a long journey to the opposite part of the world or extraordinary meetings such as the one with the Pope. The WYD will also continue after Sydney, through a mission to the Christian communities of Asia". It was announced in a note by the diocese of the French capital, which sent to Sydney as many as 681 young people making up 22 groups. "Sent to mission like the Apostles said the organizers , the young people from Paris will prolong their pilgrimage with a mission to Thailand, Hong-Kong, Vietnam, Madagascar, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and China. A few boys will develop the mission in Australia. They are not tourist routes assured the organizers , but visits to other Churches, with which there have already been links for some time. "It is important for the young to see other Churches grow, for example, in places where the priest is not present the whole day, or as happens in the Philippines, where the priest pays his visits every two months to confirm the work made by laymen and catechizing people", explained P. Olivier Teilhard de Chardin, vicar episcopal of the diocese of Paris. On the whole, about 1,600 young French will take part in the Sydney WYD, accompanied by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris and president of the French Bishops’ Conference.
