austraLasia #2394

Amidst palms and passion,'passing the baton' amongst the world's youth

ROME: 6th April 2009 -- Our Rome correspondent (this time the Rector of the RMG community) reports that there was a happy crowd of Australians in St Peter's Square yesterday, where, following the Palm Sunday Mass celebrated by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, under a typically blue Roman sky, and the traditional midday Angelus, the World Youth Day Cross and Icon were handed over solemnly by the Australians into the care of their Spanish peers. The next WYD will be held in Madrid in 2011 in mid to late August.  Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, Tim Costelloe SDB, was part of the Australian contingent led by Sydney's Cardinal Pell.
    The handing over was streamed live to Australia via the http://www.xt3.com Catholic social networking site. The site was launched in Australia at the 2008 WYD.  You can also watch the event as filmed by a Spanish crew and placed on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Tl85K0bd8
    The Australian delegation was some 60 strong, with representatives from 17 dioceses. The Rome visit has been filled with many official events, including a meeting with the Pontifical Council of the Laity as part of the 2011 planning, which also included an evaluation of the Australian WYD event. Some of the official functions in Rome were joined by Australia's two Ambassadors resident in that city, Tim Fischer, Ambassador to the Holy See, and Amanda Vanstone, Ambassador to Italy. We believe her dog Gus, who recently created a diplomatic incident by biting the Pakistani envoy, was not accompanying her this time!

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Title: australasia 2394
Subject and key words: SDB General: WYD 2008, 2011
Date (year): 2009