AUSTRALIA: Pilgrims and protesters prepare for the Pope's visit to Australia to mark World Youth Day

Record ID: 555837

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: Pilgrims and protesters prepare for the Pope's visit to Australia to mark World Youth Day
  • Date: 12th July 2008
  • Summary: (BN03) SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (JULY 12, 2008) (REUTERS) ST MARY'S CATHEDRAL WORLD YOUTH DAY 2008 ARCH IN FRONT OF THE CATHEDRAL PICTURE OF POPE BENEDICT XVI COUNTDOWN TO WORLD YOUTH DAY SIGN DISPLAYING 3 DAYS TO GO AMERICAN PILGRIMS WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN PILGRIM, TOPHER BAIM SAYING: "I think just seeing three to four hundred thousand people that are all committed to the same cause that I am, it just going to be simply amazing." GERMAN PILGRIMS WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) GERMAN PILGRIM HANS STEGWEIG SAYING: "It is very special, so this is the reason why we came the long way from Germany to Sydney to feel it again, the big community." PILGRIMS FROM VANUATU POSING FOR EACH OTHER'S CAMERA (BN03) SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) FORKLIFT WORKERS CONSTRUCTING STAGE CROSS RANDWICK RACECOURSE HEAVY VEHICLES AND TRUCKS ON RACE TRACK PROTESTERS IN FRONT OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES PARLIAMENT HOUSE POLICE OUTWATCHING PROTESTERS SHOWING T-SHIRTS T-SHIRT READING "THERE IS NO GOD" T-SHIRT READING "CHIEF HOMOPHOBE" WITH PICTURE OF POPE BENEDICT XVI (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROTEST ORGANISER, RACHEL EVANS, SAYING: "They are incredibly unfair, if they are deemed annoying, whether it'd be a T-shirt or someone handing out a condom, if the police deem that is annoying they are able to slap a 5,500 dollar fine on you, if that's in a declared area, so it is very draconian, it's horrendous and it is a huge attack on our right to express our opinion." WOMAN ORGANISING CONDOMS (BN3) SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (JULY 11, 2008) (REUTERS) ROAD CLOSURE SIGN NUNS SHOWING WAY TO PILGRIMS WORLD YOUTH DAY FRANCHISE SHOP T-SHIRT ON SALE READING "I LOVE JESUS" (BN03) SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (JULY 10, 2008) (REUTERS) WORLD YOUTH DAY FLAGS WORLD YOUTH DAY FLAGS WITH THE AUSTRALIAN FLAG IN BACKDROP
  • Embargoed: 27th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Australia
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA86FI26N3KSJ6RKH4TCZR4BCLH
  • Story Text: Thousands of pilgrims arrive to Sydney and activists gear up to protest against the Pope's anti-homosexual and anti-condom stance ahead of the Holy Father's visit to Australia for World Youth Day.
    Thousands of young Catholics, nuns and priests from around the world have converged on Sydney ahead of Pope Benedict's arrival on Sunday (July 13) to attend the World Youth Day (WYD) event in Australia.
    Organisers are expecting 500,000 pilgrims although only half that number have actually registered so far. City officials are treating the July 15-20 event as something bigger than the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
    A group of Catholic youth from Dallas, Texas took a tour of Sydney hours after their arrival on Saturday (July 12).

    "I think just seeing three-four hundred thousand people that are all committed to the same cause that I am, it just going to be simply amazing," said American pilgrim, Topher Baim.

    "It is very special, so this is the reason why we came the long way from Germany to Sydney to feel it again, the big community," said German pilgrim Hans Stegwieg from Cologne who also attended last year's WYD as a volunteer.
    But not everyone is happy.
    The group "No Pope" is planning to hand out condoms and protest against the extra police powers they say "crush civil liberties".
    Police have been given extra anti-protest powers so they can arrest anyone annoying pilgrims, some 300 roads have been closed and workers have been told to take holidays or avoid the city.

    "They are incredibly unfair, if they are deemed annoying, whether it'd be a T-shirt or someone handing out a condom, if the police deem that is annoying they are able to slap a 5,500 dollar fine on you, if that's in a declared area, so it is very draconian, it's horrendous and it is a huge attack on our right to express our opinion," said Rachel Evans, one of the organisers of "anti-Pope" protests.
    Elective surgery in some hospitals has been cancelled and extra doctors rostered in.
    Signs warn motorists that overseas pilgrims are not used to cars on the left-hand side of the road and may step in front of traffic.
    The city's main horse-racing track, site of the closing event where hundreds of thousands will gather for a papal mass, has been shut to racing for 10 weeks in preparation.
    Organisers and local government authorities say WYD will be a religious and financial windfall, with the event estimated to earn the city up to A$200 million (US$190 million).
    WYD was the brainchild of the late Pope John Paul II who thought a festival which included not only masses and religious events like the stations of the cross, but also music and dance concerts would revitalise the world's Catholic youth.
    More than 165 outdoor concerts are planned around the world, from religious music to heavy metal, acid jazz, and rap, but the Pope will be the star of the show.
    There will even be an underground mass and the remains of a dead Italian saint have been flown out for pilgrims to inspect.
    For the first three days of his visit the Pope, like most rock stars, will rest at a Catholic retreat on the outskirts of Sydney.
    He will kick off his public appearances on Thursday (July 17) and will meet Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and travel by boat across Sydney Harbour to greet thousands of young pilgrims, before heading off in the Popemobile through Sydney's central business district.
    The church is firm in its belief that although the 81-year-old Pope is the the oldest pope elected, he can still engage with young people.

    "The goals of World Youth Day are to strengthen the faith and goodness of the young people that are coming," said the head of the Catholic church in Australia, Cardinal George Pell.
    Mainstream churches like the Catholic and Anglican struggle to attract worshippers in Australia, unlike small evangelical churches and Buddhism, which is the fastest growth faith in Australia.
    Some 5 million Australians describe themselves as Catholic, but less than one million attend Sunday mass, and critics say the number may have dropped to about 100,000 in the past 5 years.
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