Today we visited a chapel in Adelaide where Blessed Mary MacKillop received her excommunication from Bishop Sheil, who was the Bishop of Adelaide at the time. The WYD patron profile of Australia’s saint states: “The zeal of saints often raises criticism. And Mary was the recipient of uncertainty and even jealousy from those around her, ...read more

Yippee!! Let’s get out of here! We’re on vacation! Ahhh… holidays. The getaway from the everyday… but not from your faith. Just because you’re not at home doesn’t mean Mass becomes a thing of the past and prayer is something to do when you get back. As Pope Benedict puts it, holidays are the opportunities ...read more

I’d like to tell you about Vincent, but not after I tell you about my morning’s interviews.The group of us went to the Archdiocesan office in Adelaide and met up with the auxiliary bishop of Adelaide, Bishop Greg O’Kelly, who happens to be a Jesuit with a lot of knowledge about Blessed Mary MacKillop. Chris ...read more

Our Salt + Light coverage of World Youth Day may be over, but Australia is still on the map for a few of us! I fly back to Toronto this coming Friday, July 25th, but until I do, expect a daily blog from Australia from yours truly! This afternoon, Kris Dmytrenko, Richard Valenti, Fr. Stefano, ...read more

The media office at WYD08 has published some final statistics from the historic WYD Down Under: PILGRIMS & ATTENDANCE 70,000 international pilgrims took part in Days of the Diocese throughout Australia during the week before WYD08 150,000 attended the Opening Mass at Barangaroo and CBD sites In excess of 400,000 people attended the Final Mass ...read more

This blog comes from Marilena Berardinelli, a young Toronto based Catholic teacher and WYD08 participant. No one WYD is the same. Each WYD is flavoured by such things as the vision of its organizing committee, the charm of its host city and by the spirit of the pilgrims themselves. My experience in Rome (2000) was ...read more

Here is the Holy Father’s address at the Farewell Ceremony at Sydney International Airport, Monday Morning. Dear Friends in Christ, I thank Cardinal Pell for his kind words and I am pleased to have this opportunity to bid farewell to all of you and to say what a wonderful experience this week has been. During ...read more

Well… World Youth Day is over… the bags are packed, Randwick is being cleaned up, the Media Centre is almost empty, hotels are being emptied, Sydney is returning to its usual stage – but this city will not be the same after this last week. Before coming, we heard about how the local Australian media ...read more

On Saturday morning, on the way to the Southern Cross Precinct (Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park) where the World Youth Day Evening Vigil and Closing Mass were to take place, pilgrims had to pass through seven “Power Stations”. Each one represented one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Courage, ...read more

After praying the Angelus, Pope Benedict had a special announcement: “The time has come for me to say good-bye – or rather, to say arrivederci! I thank you all for your participation in World Youth Day 2008, here in Sydney, and I look forward to seeing you again in three years’ time. World Youth Day ...read more