Pilgrims Heading to Sydney With Hearts Full of Christ

Days in the Diocese Activities Wrapping Up

By Catherine Smibert

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Across the 28 dioceses of Australia, there were tears and cheers as pilgrims began to pack up to head to their final World Youth Day destination of Sydney.

Over 100,000 international pilgrims arrived throughout Australia last week for the Days in the Diocese, experiencing true Australian life, culture, faith and fun in preparation for their week together with Benedict XVI in Sydney for World Youth Day.

The youth event begins Wednesday, and will culminate next Sunday with an open-air Mass at Randwick Racecourse. Organizers say some 500,000 people are expect to attend the closing liturgy.

In Melbourne, Australia's largest diocese, 30,000 young pilgrims gathered in the Telstra Dome for the commissioning Mass. The organizers installed special lighting in the stadium to simulate the feeling of being inside of a Church filled with the light that is streamed through stained glass windows.

The altar was positioned in the center of a gigantic blue cross, framed in red, on the stadium surface.

Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne presided at the Mass, aided by two cardinals, scores of bishops and archbishops, and more than 600 priests who distributed Communion throughout the stadium.

Archbishop Hart told the pilgrims their goodness and enthusiasm showed God at work in the Church, especially through the young.

Perth says yes

In the Western Australian Diocese of Perth, young people pledged to change the world through their love for Christ at the culmination of Days in the Diocese there.

With over 110 priests and 10 bishops present Saturday from around the world at the commissioning Mass, Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth asked the same question of the over 4,000 youth that Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love him?"

The answer was a resounding "yes."

Archbishop Hickey called on Perth's youth and those from the other countries present to evangelize other young people with their love for Christ.

He said that when Jesus asked Peter to be his apostle, he did not say, "Are you a good speaker, or financier?" He asked, "Do you love me?"

In an emotional address that saw many pilgrims reduced to tears, Archbishop Hickey said many youth of today feel much emptiness, and fill the void with pre-marital sex, material possessions like the latest phone or flat-screen television.

He said these do not bring freedom, only enslavement. The only thing that can fill their hearts, he said, was Christ -- and young Catholics are the ones to help other youth find him.

The youth pilgrims will travel by a blessed fleet of buses over 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) to Sydney for World Youth Day 2008.