On the 9th April 2006, Sydney formally accepted the offer through a delegation to Rome to host World Youth Day, the largest youth event in the world attracting over half a million young visitors with the acceptance of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon of Our Lady presented by Pope Benedict XVI following Palm Sunday Mass.
The Australian delegation led by Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell to Rome consisted of the World Youth Day management team and 70 young people representing all the Australian Diocese were thrilled at this momentous occasion.
The World Youth Day Cross was originally entrusted to the world’s youth by Pope John Paul II to be carried throughout the world to share Christ’s love of humanity.
In 2003 the Pope introduced a new element to World Youth Day where the Cross would be accompanied on its pilgrimage by the Icon of Our Lady, Salus Populi Romani. The Pope announced: “I entrust to the delegation from Germany the Icon of Mary. From now it would accompany the World Youth Days, together with the Cross. Behold, your Mother! It would be a sign of Mary's motherly presence close to young people who were called, like the Apostle John, to welcome her into their lives.”
World Youth Day the largest single event, to come to this country attracting over half a million visitors with 135,000 pilgrims coming overseas, was not a Catholic event but rather it was a week of a series of events for evangelisation.
Cardinal Pell clearly ecstatic that Australia was chosen to host World Youth Day explained the purpose of the event. He said: “World Youth Day was about gathering the young people of the world together to contemplate the face of Christ and his Church. World Youth Day builds bridges of friendship and hope between continents, peoples and cultures.”
Australia being chosen as the country to host the event was greeted with joy by many in the world.
Cardinal Pell said: “People were very excited about World Youth Day being held in Australia for the first time. Australia…was seen as a peaceful country, accepting of many cultures, which had great significance.”
He further added: “A lot of the international organisers were telling me they were really looking forward to seeing Sydney and experiencing the renowned friendliness of Australians.”
Pope John Paul II described the enormous blessing, which Australia known as the ‘Great Southern Land of the Holy Spirit’ had received and the commission it must carried out.
The Pope said: “The Church in Oceania had been endowed by the Holy Spirit with many gifts. For all the great diversity of cultures and traditions, she was one in faith, hope and charity, one in Catholic doctrine and discipline, one in the communion of the Most Holy Trinity. In this communion, all were called to live the life of Christ in the midst of their daily activities, to show forth the wonderful fruits of the Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22- 23) and to be witnesses to God's love and mercy in the world." (n36)
The event targeted youth because many including Pope John Paul II saw the huge potential in them. The Pope stated: “The Church had much to say to young people, and they had much to say to the Church. This mutual dialogue must be open-hearted, clear and courageous. It fostered encounter and exchange between the generations and became a source of wealth and youth for the Church and society"
The theme for the Sydney World Youth Day taken from the Scripture (Acts 1:8) was: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses." (Acts 1:8)
The focus of the ceremony was on the youth styled tag line, which was going to be unveiled for the Sydney event known as WYD SYD 08. This image encapsulated five separate stories within the one logo, representing Christ our Saviour, the Catholic faith, the Pilgrimage that was World Youth Day, the Youth participants (Pilgrims) and the host city Sydney.
The most prominent image was the Flame of the Holy Spirit. This represented the fire in the heart of God. Traditionally for Catholics the flame represented the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The colours of red, yellow and orange also evoked the Australian outback.
Following the Rome Handover the Cross and the Icon would travel to Senegal in West Africa and through the African continent, then as World Youth Day 2008 approaches, it would travel through various countries in Oceania and the 28 dioceses of Australia before arriving at the Opening Mass of World Youth Day on 15 July 2008.
A new website has been launched for Sydney World Youth Day at www.wyd2008.org and the online e-Pilgrimage has opened for registration.