“Young Africans are often held back by their limited budget when they have to attend the World Youth Days. Only four young people from Burkina Faso managed to go to Sydney this year”, reads an article published on the Thursday 17th July issue of Burkina Faso’s daily paper “Le Pays”. “Unfortunately - continues the piece -, the African continent, where faith is very strong, has had no chance so far to organise any such religious event”. In 2006, in the run-up to the 2008 WYD, the Cross and the icon of the Virgin were taken through Africa, from Senegal to Tanzania, starting nationwide events and meetings that were also attended by young people from the neighbouring countries. “Veritable breeding grounds of peace and a school of friendship and love”. This is how the bishop Philippe Rukamba of Butare, Rwanda, had called them. Some young Africans have now the chance to take part in a bigger, more international “breeding ground” in Sydney, where, “in addition to the spiritual experience, human relations, cooperation twinning programs and projects are born, where people discover each other”, as mentioned by “Le Pays”. “As well as being an experience of faith - concludes Burkina Faso’s daily paper -, the WYDs are also an effective ‘tool’ for bringing different cultures together, for social inclusion, for a more open human spirit”.

Peru and Brazil: the WYD has no boundaries and those who cannot personally attend the event find other ways to follow the event. Young Peruvians, for instance, received a message from Sydney, from the president of the Youth Bishops Commission in Peru, mgr. Gabino Miranda. “Join us - writes the bishop - in prayer and in joy”. The bishop speaks of a “young Church gathered around the Pope”, “longing to be disciple and missionary” and to “receive the strength of the Holy Spirit to be a witness amidst the world in which we live, study, work, in everyday life”. The archdiocese of Belo Horizonte in Brazil planned three days of events. On Saturday 19th from the afternoon to the evening they will share moments of music, culture and catechesis, then they will watch the live broadcast from Sydney, then the metropolitan archbishop of Belo Horizonte, mgr. Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, will open the vigil of prayer that will be held all night in the Cathedral of “Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem”. On Sunday morning at 6, the young will take part in the Way of the Cross, from the cathedral to “Praça do Papa”, where Mass will be celebrated.

(From our correspondents in Sydney) - Christianity is announced not only by words but also by the behaviour of those who profess to be believers. This is the core of the three catecheses that mgr. Anders Arborelius, bishop of Stockholm, gave to the young of his country in Sydney. “The personal testimony cannot be left aside - states the bishop -. Often people who have approached Christianity tell me everything begun when they met believable Christians. And I think in our country the value of the testimony is even stronger”. Speaking to SIR during the catecheses, mgr. Arborelius tells of the lights and shadows of Sweden. On one side, he tells, “there are young people with no faith or strength” and “marriage is very weak”; however, on the other side, “there a very high birth rate, one of the highest in Europe”, partly the result of some “social policies” that protect women and motherhood.

(From our correspondents in Sydney) - “I cannot ignore there are still big, substantial differences between us”, but “let this not be the first nor the last word we speak”. The regard of the Anglicans to this morning’s inter-faith meeting was taken by the Anglican auxiliary bishop of Sydney, rev. Robert Forsyth, who greeted the Holy Father as a “brother” in Christian faith. The Anglican leader spoke of the Roman Church “as a rock amidst the rapids”: “Were it not for Rome’s deep insistence on Christ as the sole saviour of the world, on the nature of God’s Trinity, on Christ’s divine nature, on the centrality and supremacy of the Scriptures and on the objectivity of Christian morality, the life of the other Christian Churches would be much more difficult”. Then, with reference to the Pope’s wish that the Pauline Year may help “make progress towards the unity of Christians”, rev. Forsyth pledged to pray “to grow together in truth and love”. Even if the Anglican pastor fears that “the full unity of Christians will not be accomplished until the day on which we will know everything, even what we have completely ignored, when we will no longer see as in a mirror, but face to face”.

(From our correspondents in Sydney) - Over 270 million people, according to the organisers, were present at the traditional “Way of the Cross” of the WYD, which has just ended in Sydney, in Barangaroo Bay, where yesterday the young welcomed Pope Benedict XVI. The event was watched worldwide live on TV - according to the figures announced in the newsroom of the WYD - by 500 million people. An event poised between the past and present, in which costume dresses flanked the aboriginal actors, and songs and dances alternated along the way from the Cathedral of St Mary to Barangaroo. After the Holy Father’s prayer in the Cathedral, the 13 Stations of the “Way of the Cross” started from the Last Supper, acted on a stage set in Jesus’ time. It was an aboriginal who played the Cyrenaic, taking the Cross on his shoulders on Darling Harbour Bridge. At the ninth Station, in which Jesus is stripped, a boy and a girl sang “Amazing Grace”, a north-American song that was very commonly sung at the time of apartheid. At sunset, against the charming background of the lit skyscrapers, the Crucifixion. While the Apostles took Jesus’ body away, at the last Station, the event closed along the notes of an Irish religious song, under the Cross.

The 650 bishops who have come to Canterbury for the 14th Lambeth Conference went into spiritual retreat yesterday until Sunday morning. For the next few days, the bishop will follow a schedule, which will be opened by a speech by the archbishop of Canterbury, after which there will be moments of silence, prayer and reflection. “Being into retreat - reads a note - means leaving all the problems of daily life behind and focus on spiritual life”. The Lambeth Conference had been opened on Wednesday 16th July by archbishop Williams’s opening address. “I think - said the archbishop - that it is important to say we are very sorry that many of our brothers and sisters in Communion have not felt able to be with us over these weeks, we are sorry because we need their voices and they need ours”. “I respect and accept the decisions that have been taken, but together and in prayer we must acknowledge the wound that they have opened in our relationship”. Then, Williams reasserted his personal commitment, so that “the relations that have been hurt will be healed”. Aware that this process is not “so easy”, he added: “we hope the opened wounds may somehow open up to receive the work of God’s Spirit in our tasks”.

Basing his remarks on the example of the “prodigal son” who “squandered his inheritance on a life of indulgence, and ended up in abject poverty and misery”, Benedict XVI developed a catechesis on youth deviance and how to overcome it. “Many of you - he said, addressing his remarks to the guests of the Rehab Community of the University of Notre Dame - have had personal experience of what that young man went through. Perhaps you have made choices that you now regret (...). The choice to abuse drugs or alcohol, to engage in criminal activity or self-harm, may have seemed at the time to offer a way out of a difficult or confusing situation”. The Pope then continued: “You now know that, instead of bringing life, it brings death. I wish to acknowledge your courage in choosing to turn back onto the path of life, just like the young man in the parable. You have accepted help: from friends or family, from the staff who run the ‘Alive’ programme: from people who care deeply for your well-being and happiness”. He then exhorted the young guests of the Community to become “ambassadors of hope to others in similar situations”, sure of the love of Jesus who “welcomes you with open arms”.

“I pray that you will all benefit from the assistance offered by the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Social Services Agency, and that the good work being done here will continue long into the future”, said the Pope at the start of his speech at his meeting with a group of youth undergoing treatment at the Rehabilitation Community run by the University of Notre Dame in Sydney. After recalling the words of Moses (“I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse...”), Benedict XVI declared that “sometimes people worship ‘other gods’ without realizing it. False ‘gods’, whatever name, shape or form we give them, are nearly always associated with the worship of three things: material possessions, possessive love, or power”. To resist these three temptations, which he called “the path that leads towards death”, the Pope proposed instead “the way to choose life”, which consists in the “worship of the one true God”. “A vivid illustration of what it means to turn back from the path of death onto the path of life - explained Benedict XVI - is found in a Gospel story that I am sure you all know well: the parable of the prodigal son”. (to be continued)

(From our correspondents in Sydney) - One of the 12 boys and girls who lunched with Pope Benedict XVI today was Craig Ashby, an Australian boy of aboriginal origin, who gave the Pontiff a kangaroo-skin cape. “Speaking of my people - tells Ashby -, which are still suffering from all the problems of discrimination and social exclusion that we have experienced, the Pope told me that the key to solve them is education”. Craig adds that Benedict XVI “is a great leader” and hopes he will take the aboriginals’ question to heart. Another one of the boys and girls lunching with the Pope was Gabriel Nangile, from Papua New Guinea: “With the Pope we spoke of the young people of my country and the importance that our hearts move towards the Spirit”. The boy says that for him this one “is an indescribable experience: never in my life would I have imagined that I would eat with the «leader» of the Catholic Church”.

“No boy or girl from Kuna Yala could go to the WYD, but since May they have been offering up prayers for this big event of the Church, personally working at and sharing a catechesis about the Holy Father’s message”. It was said to SIR by father Carlos Rodriguez, who works with the young of the Panamanian diocese. “On 26th July - adds the priest -, the young of the youth groups of the 5 parishes of the diocese, some students and all the young who want to join in will take part in a Day on which the Pope’s word will be discussed. The bishop of the diocese, Audilio Aguilar Aguilar - says father Rogriguez -, will celebrate Mass at the end of the Day”. The diocese expects a turnout of about 600 young people. “They have great expectations about this Day, especially because they are young people who live in the rural areas, and they do not have many opportunities to take part and be together in such events. So they are very glad to accept the invitation of the diocese”.

(From our correspondents in Sydney) - “That he may keep enlightening mankind in the love of man, of one’s brothers and sisters”. This is the welcome that the rabbi of the big synagogue of Sydney, Jeremy Lawrence, made to Benedict XVI at the meeting with the leaders of the other religions. “Meetings like this one highlight what we have in common rather than our differences”, stated the rabbi who listed the common positions on such issues as the defence of the environment, of life, of rights, of justice, against oppression and persecution. “The WYD embodies his commitment to continuing this dialogue - added Lawrence - and for the good of mankind we must make foreigners become our neighbours and make our neighbours become our friends, turning the stereotypes of Christians, Jews and Muslims into human beings, friends and collaborators in the building of a shared global village”. The meeting with the Pope was also attended by Lacey Josie, member of the Jewish delegation that told to SIR: “What amazed me is the fact he wanted to meet us and speak to us, one by one. I also spoke to him in German, as I originally come from Germany, and he smiled in surprise. I am sure he was glad for this meeting and his gratitude was apparent. We liked his speech, full of good omens for the future of dialogue”.

“These values - added the Pope - are especially important for a proper education of the young who are so often tempted to consider life a commodity”, but are also “willing to welcome” “lofty ideals”, such as “asceticism”, the “practice of moral virtue”, “self-respect and the care for the others”. In ending his speech, Benedict XVI mentioned the responsibility religions have for building a world of peace and for “the reconciliation of the peoples”: “Religion - said the Holy Father - offers peace but - even more importantly - arouses in man’s spirit a thirst for the truth and a hunger for virtue. May we encourage everyone, especially the young, to admire in astonishment the beauty of life, to look for its ultimate sense, and to commit themselves to accomplishing its sublime potential!”.

“Dear friends, I have come to Australia as an ambassador of peace. That’s why I am glad to meet you who share this ambition as well as the wish to help the world achieve peace”. With these words, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the leaders of the religions that he met in the chapterhouse of St. Mary’s, in Sidney. The Pope was welcomed by the words of rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, and Sheik Shardy, on behalf of the Jewish community and the Muslim community of the city, respectively. “In a world that’s threatened by sinister, indiscriminate forms of violence - said the Pope -, the united voice of those who have a religious spirit stimulates the nations and the communities to solve conflicts with peaceful systems that perfectly respect human dignity”. “The sense of religion that is rooted in man’s heart” - pointed out Benedict XVI - guides men to “meet other people’s needs and find effective ways to contribute to the common good”. “Religious spirit” educates man to “sacrifice and self-discipline”, to “a simple, unpretentious life”. (continued)

“For this reason, a sincere dialogue about the place of the Eucharist - went on Pope Benedict XVI - will undoubtedly help make the ecumenical movement move forward and unite our testimony in front of the world”. Then the Pope highlighted the style that such dialogue should have. “Ecumenical dialogue - he said - moves on not only through an exchange of ideas, but by sharing gifts that mutually enrich us. An idea aims at attaining the truth; a ‘gift’ expresses love. Both are essential for dialogue. Opening up and accepting spiritual gifts from other Christians stimulates our ability to perceive the light of the truth that comes from the Spirit”.

The “ecumenical movement” has reached “a critical point”. But that does not mean Christians should lose heart: “we have to steer clear of any temptation to consider the doctrine a source of division and as such an impediment to what seems to be the most urgent and immediate task to improve the world in which we live”. It was said by Pope Benedict XVI, as he meet, in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. Mary in Sydney, the leaders of the Christian Churches and Confessions and the members of the Ecumenical Council of New South Wales. The meeting - which was attended by about 40 people - was also attended by card. Edward Cassidy, Emeritus President of the Papal Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians, who took - recalled the holy Father - “a proactive commitment to promoting the mutual understanding of all Christians”. “The path of ecumenism - said the Pope - ultimately aims to a common celebration of the Eucharist, which Christ entrusted to His apostles as the epitome of all Sacraments of the unity of the Church. Even if there are still some obstacles to overcome, we can be sure one day one common Eucharist will but highlight our decision to love and serve each other in resemblance of our Lord”. (continued)