” “” ” ” “SIR – 16/10/2007 Ten patrons have been chosen by the Organising Committee for the Sidney 2008 WYD (15-20 July). They are Mary, "Our Lady of the Southern Cross, the help of Christians", the protector of Australia, the Servant of God John Paul II, the blessed Mary McKillop, the first Australian to have been beatified, Saint Peter Chanel, a French missionary and a martyr in the Wallis and Fortuna islands, the blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, the unofficial patron of the WYD, Saint Theresa of Lisieux, the former patron saint of Australia, the blessed Peter To Rot of Papua New Guinea, a lay married man, the son of a chieftain, martyred for his faith in a Japanese concentration camp at the end of the Second World War, saint Maria Goretti, saint Faustina Kowalska, Polish, the first saint of the Third Millennium, and mother Theresa of Calcutta who devoted her life to the poor. During the WYD, as reported today on the second day of the WYD preparatory meeting, which is talking place in the Australian city and which is attended by 200 delegates of youth pastorals from 100 countries, "the young will be encouraged to consecrate themselves to the Virgin of the Southern Cross in the spirit of John Paul II’s totus tuus during the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of St. Mary at the WYD".” “” “” “
