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Just when I thought I could put World Youth Day writing behind me, researchers released the findings of “Pilgrims’ Progress 2008.” The online study, conducted by the Australian Catholic University and Monash University, surveyed 12,275 registered English-speaking pilgrims from 164 countries who finished their World Youth Day pilgrimage to Sydney, Australia one month ago today. The [...]

Pope Benedict XVI asked some 200,000 World Youth Day pilgrims to be open to the Holy Spirit’s unifying love during a July 19 candlelit vigil at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse. “We have seen that it is the Holy Spirit who brings about the wonderful communion of believers in Jesus Christ,” he said.  ”True to His nature [...]

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, 7:25 P.M., JULY 9 Today marked the youth’s last day of pure fellowship. Tomorrow, they’ll begin a four-day Catholic youth festival and then fly to Sydney for the five-day Catholic teen festival known best as World Youth Day. The teens spent the day traipsing the grounds of the Australia Zoo, the home of [...]

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, 2 P.M., JULY 8 Fr. Chauncey Winkler, pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Havasu City, concelebrated the first Mass of the journey in the chapel of St. Joseph’s Nudgee College. It was an unscheduled Mass, but still some 60 American and Indian Catholics came for worship. The daily Mass also [...]

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, 6:10 A.M., JULY 8 (Brisbane time  - 17 hours ahead of Phoenix) I spent the wee hours of the morning watching Dr. Seuss’s classic story, “Horton Hears a Who!” come to life in a feature length family film. While I chose the in-flight movie for its lightheartedness and clean language, I found myself applying its [...]