"During the opening ceremony, the Pope will enter the bay on a boat, but don’t forget that Captain Cook entered Sydney in the same way, actually invading our land. So we decided to add to the fleet that will receive the Pope another boat with a group of Aboriginals on board, and to ask Benedict XVI to get into it, not to evoke the symbolism of the invasion". These details about the welcome ceremony, due to take place in Sydney Bay on July 17th, have been provided to SIR by Graeme Mundine, national director of the Aboriginal Catholic Community of Australia (458 thousand people, with about 100 thousand devotees). In an interview, the director admits the WYD will be full of Aboriginal signs and that’s why "it is a good opportunity for our community to make its culture and tradition known in the right way, with no negative connotations". Even if he says he does not expect Benedict XVI to make any special reference to the Aboriginal community as "he comes here first and foremost for the young", Mundine hopes the visit will help "do much more for the Aboriginal community in a country in which, despite many different cultures living together, there’s still lots of racism. It may be the right time to inspire even more strength and energy in the young Aboriginals and in the Australian society".
