WORDS and IMAGES Liz Lillis

Sydney was awash with pilgrims from all corners of the world during the week leading up to World Youth Day. Flags were flying, voices were singing, and smiles were everywhere. Liz Lillis spent the week meeting pilgrims and listening to their stories. 

Ireland

At Melbourne Airport 18 year old Eoin O’Sullivan from Dublin Ireland is waiting to board his plane to Sydney for WYD08.

His hope for the week: to meet people from around the world and make a lot more friends.

‘I saw the Pope in Rome in 2006 but I think this will be very different’, he says.

‘I enjoyed Days in the Diocese in Melbourne but I think the big Mass will be really special.’

Italy

The queue for volunteer accreditation stretches back, but 24-year-old Alessandro Severi from northern Italy uses the time to get to know his new Aussie friend, John San Diego from Campbelltown.

The two connected through Facebook in the months before World Youth Day, via a group for volunteers, but had first met in person that morning.

‘Italy is a traditionally Catholic country, but young people have stopped going to church and many are living a life far removed from it’, says Alessandro.

Learning about Australian culture from John, and teaching him about Italy, gives Alessandro the sense that our faith is something that is universal.

‘Hopefully it will put more of the spirit and strength of the young into our churches and our country’, he says.

Slovakia

On a train to the city for the Opening Mass, I sit with 24-year-old Slovakian Darina Hladka. She flips through her translation dictionary so she can share her hopes for the week with me.

‘I hope it will make my faith stronger’, she says.

Darina says they hope their stories from Australia will encourage other young people to come back to church.

‘I want to share my experiences with my friends when I get home’, she says.

United States of America

Fifteen year old Carli Skaggs is enjoying her day in Hyde Park just near St Mary’s Cathedral. It is the first day of World Youth day and everyone is getting ready to wall to Barangaroo for the Opening Mass.

‘My Mum suggested I come to Australia for World Youth Day’, Carli tells me. ‘I’m hoping to again an understanding of the different cultures.

‘I’ve been surprised by how many different people there are here and it is only the first day. It is amazing that we can get together for one thing.’

Mexico

The pilgrims have taken over Sydney’s streets, singing and waving their flags while the bemused locals watch on. I see a group of Mexican pilgrims walking by singing.

Among them is Raymundo Pina Balderas, 33, wearing a brightly coloured poncho.

‘It is wonderful to meet one another and share our cultures’, Raymundo says as he stops to chat. ‘To be together under the one flag of Jesus and the one anthem, the Bible.’

Raymundo says World Youth Day, with its celebration of what makes us special and what brings us together, teaches us that real love is possible.

‘Jesus said love one another as I have loved you. This is possible with the spirit and love in your heart.’

Germany

Eva Stadler, 26 and Eva Seizinger, 25 travelled a long way to join the Sale Gippsland Diocese group for WYD08.

The two friends from Rodalben in the south-west of Germany decided to link in with some Australian pilgrims for their pilgrimage.

Eva Stadler’s aunt Matilda Boettcher has lived in Traralgon Victoria for 50 years and Eva decided when WYD08 was to be in Australia it would be a good time to visit.

‘We went to Cologne so we had our own Pope in our own country so we do understand about having WYD08 in your home country, it is special’, Eva says.

‘I want to take the Holy Spirit home with me. I will show everyone my photos even though they really don’t do the event justice’, says the other Eva.

France

Manon Des Portes, 18, has travelled to Sydney from France. I chat with her as we queue for dinner at one of the meal tents around the city.

‘This is a chance to recharge my faith batteries’, she says. ‘It is easier to express your faith with others who believe around you.’

She says the event has helped her learn how to pray better.

‘It is great to feel the faith and happiness around me.’

Australia

The spirit and energy of the young people continues as the events roll on. As I pass through the security screens to take my place for the Papal arrival at Barangaroo, I see a mother sitting nursing a baby in the shade. At just 16 days old, Joshua may be the youngest pilgrim in Sydney.

His mother, Kate Pulleine from Gymea in New South Wales, is waiting patiently for her 10-year-old son Roy, while her husband assists a friend from the Wollongong Diocese checking up on pilgrim groups.

I ask Kate what she’s hoping to get out of World Youth Day.

‘We have quite an active parish with a good youth ministry’, she says. ‘It may bring more youth back to the church, but I hope it makes us focus more on Christ in our everyday lives… that we listen to his love in our lives.’

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