(From our correspondents in Sydney) – "It’s truly a World Youth Day, despite the distance. There’s plenty of optimism, young people are coming from the Pacific, from New Zealand, people who have never attended a WYD before. Distance is made up for by the presence of the neighbours of the Australian land". This was stated by the Vatican Secretary of State, card. Tarcisio Bertone, who officiated Mass today in the cathedral of St. Patrick’s, in Parramatta (Sydney). One of the distinctive features of this WYD, according to the Secretary of State, with reference to Benedict XVI’s interview with the press as he was flying to Sydney, "is the theology of Creation, the theme of the WYD, the Holy Spirit, and the preparation that has started from afar and very effectively". According to Bertone, "distance is precisely the distinctive feature of the WYD of Sydney. Distance from the centre he explained makes the local dioceses and churches produce Days and events with thousands and thousands of young people who connect with each other in a sort of virtual WYD, which in some occasion, such as the Saturday Vigil, nearly coincide. That’s why this is truly a world youth day".
