OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - Official program of events for World Youth Day in Sydney has been published

Sydney (Agenzia Fides) - The official program for World Youth Day 2008 (WYD) in Sydney has been published. The event will take place July 15-20, six days of faith and spirituality, with all the traditional WYD activities. This international Catholic youth gathering will begin at 4:30pm on July 15 with an opening Mass celebrated by His Eminence Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, at the Pier of Barangaroo, amidst an afternoon filled with cultural activities at the Youth Festival.
The following day, July 16, the first session of Catechesis will begin with the theme “Called to live in the Holy Spirit,” which will be available in over 250 locations including parishes, churches, and audience halls. In the afternoon, there will be a Youth Festival. The day’s schedule will be the same on July 17 and 18, with the Catechesis themes of “The Holy Spirit, soul of the Church” and “Sent out into the world: the Holy Spirit, the principal agent of mission.” July 17 is also the day of the scheduled arrival of Pope Benedict XVI, who will be welcomed by youth at 2:45pm at the dock of Barangaroo, after his journey by boat through the Harbour, as he did in Cologne at the World Youth Day in 2005. On July 18, downtown Sydney will host the Stations of the Cross, scheduled to begin at 3pm.
July 19 and 20 will be the crowning moments of the WYD: the Vigil on Saturday (at 7pm) and the Sunday Mass (at 10am). The events will take place at the Randwick Racecourse and the nearby Centennial Park, which have been designated “the Southern Cross Precinct” in honor of the occasion. (PR) (Agenzia Fides 12/5/2008; righe 20, parole 276)