(from our correspondents in Australia) WYD is capturing the headlines on the front pages of the Australian press following the start of the "days in the dioceses". "The pilgrims at World Youth Day put heart into the city" is the front-page headline in The Weekend Australian. On the eve of the Pope’s arrival, says a report on the front page, Sydney "is living in hope" and awaits "an historic religious experience that is able to change people’s lives". The paper estimates at 500,000 the number of youth who will participate in the mass with Benedict XVI at Randwich, the culmination of WYD. "Despite the persistent rumours of a fall in registrations the paper notes the Catholic Church reports numbers commensurate with a mass event of this kind, with 225,000 pilgrims expected, of whom 125,000 from abroad and the rest from Australia". "Many Australians, be they agnostics, atheists, Christians or members of other faiths says an editorial expect that the WYD will not only be greater, in numerical terms, than the Olympic Games [i.e. those in 2000], but will also bring an irresistible mixture of youthful energies, inspiring values and ancient traditions". The Melbourne daily, the Herald Sun, carries a front-page story on the open-air mass at the Telstra Dome, a "celebration for true believers", while another Melbourne paper, The Age, speaks on its front page of a "Dome packed with joy, hope and light".
