Events
World Youth Day is the largest youth event in the world and will be held in Sydney 15-20 July 2008 (WYD08) when up to 500,000 young people will meet with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Around 2,000 young pilgrims and up to 20 Bishops will travel from England and Wales to Australia this summer for a mixture of a pilgrimage, a cultural youth festival and a prayer rally.
In size and scale 'WYD' is a major international youth event that, on major celebration days, far exceeds the Olympic Games for Sydney.
WYD attracts pilgrims from some 200 nations (along with thousands of international journalists). WYD08 will also mark the first visit to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI. ‘World Youth Day’ is actually a week of events, culminating in a Final Mass celebrated by the Holy Father.
Visit our WYD section for press resources, info for pilgrims, quotes from Pope Benedict XVI and more.
Pope Benedict XVI has declared 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009 the ‘Year of St. Paul’ to celebrate of the 2,000th anniversary of St Paul’s birth. St Paul was born a Jew and later became a Christian after a powerful experience of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.
After some time away in prayer, he spent the rest of his life encouraging the early Christian communities through his personal witness and his letters. As the ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’, St Paul made many missionary journeys and endured great sufferings to preach the Gospel message. Thirteen of the letters in the New Testament are attributed to St Paul.
Here you will find our full section on the Year of St Paul.