Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Sydney (Fides Service) - In Australia there is growing enthusiasm for the 20th World Youth Day event in Germany in August this year as the number of young Australians applying to participate continues to increase. For the occasion a group of Catholic youth produced a special web site www.worldyouthday.com.au to offer information on the event for which hundreds of thousands of young Catholics from all over the world will gather in Cologne, Germany, to pray, celebrate and reflect on the theme “We have come to adore Him”. According to the web site in proportion to the population Australia has been one of the countries with the highest number of participants at the more recent WYD. The Australian Bishops’ Commission for the Laity and diocesan lay commissions, which are organising the national youth pilgrimage to Cologne for the this major church event, say applications are pouring in, also on the part of lay movements and groups
Besides a count-down to the event, now 175 days to go, the web-site offers information on the day, the list of themes and Pope John Paul II’s messages since the first World Youth Day held on Palm Sunday in Rome in 1984, comments by Australian Bishops and young participants and their longing to host a World Youth Day event in Australia.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/2/2005 righe 21 parole 231)
