It is done: Since Tuesday morning German time the World Youth Day has begun in Sydney with an opening mass. Around 4,000 priests, 400 bishops and 26 cardinals were present and celebrated Holy Mass in the Darling with over 150,000 young people.000 young people celebrated Holy Mass in Darling Harbour (see photo galleries). It was the largest church service of all time in Australia. The mass was celebrated by Sydney's Cardinal George Pell. And he greeted the Cologne pilgrims in German.
It is shortly after half past five in Sydney. The sun has just set. A last red glimmer of the day lingers on the horizon. The stage is on the shore of Darling Harbour, a harbor bay in Sydney. On the other shore, the skyline – in front of it the altar on a red pedestal, brightly lit under a white cloud, the stage roof. The pilgrims seem like a hundred thousand splashes of color, the Italians all in blue, the orange Dutch, the many colorful flags and then the vast white fields with over a thousand priests in their bright cassocks to the right and left of the stage. The 23. World Youth Day is the first whose preparation falls entirely within the pontificate of Benedict XVI. falls. However, the pope himself will not meet the young Catholics for the first time until Thursday afternoon at the metropolis' harbor – a schedule that his predecessor John Paul II. (1978-2005) so practiced. Benedict XVI is still recovering. far from the city from the rigors of the journey. The young people do not hold it against him. "It's not just about the pope," says Andre Gillen, a 23-year-old pilgrim from the diocese of Trier: "The community is more important."His small group from Marpingen in the Saarland has already experienced community during the preparation days in the Australian dioceses. After only half a week in Summersby, north of Sydney, Gillen and his friends bid a "tearful farewell" to their hosts. "I didn't think in four days there would be such a strong bond," Gillen says. The fellowship also extends beyond World Youth Days. Many in Sydney still wear the pilgrim badges or backpacks from the 2005 Cologne meeting. Also addressing the Rhinelanders specifically was Sydney's Cardinal George Pell, whom the pope has entrusted to preside over the opening ceremony. "We remember with great gratitude how you welcomed us," he says in German, addressing his Cologne confrere Joachim Meisner and the German pilgrims in greeting. Pell also has a number of other things in common with Meisner. The head pastor of Sydney, whose episcopal motto is "Fear not," enjoys a reputation in Australia as both an edgy and conservative churchman. He easily plays to the wall of the Bishops' Conference president, Archbishop Philip Wilson of Canberra, with media-rich remarks. Pell is committed to the rehabilitation of drug addicts and against abortion. He is in a permanent clash with homosexual associations; he irritated Muslims with the statement that Islam is "the communism of the 21st century. century.". At opening service, Pell eschews pithy theses. Perhaps because he is currently under fire for his crisis management in an abuse case. Above all, he sets up the game for Benedict XVI, so to speak., who will address his message to the young people at the welcome party on Thursday as well as on Saturday and Sunday. Pell speaks of the drought that has afflicted Australia for months, comparing it to the "gloomy vision" of the prophet Ezekiel, a plain full of parched bones. Pell is not concerned with an ecological apocalypse. He takes the tinder-dry lands of the outback as a symbol of a life without Christ. The cardinal wants first the lost sheep in the great flock of 100.Appealing to the thousands of young Catholics who follow the service on the harbor or in front of big screens in nearby Tumbalong Park. He wants to lead to Jesus those who suffer from wounds in their lives, "be it drugs or alcohol, broken families, carnality, loneliness or a death, perhaps even the emptiness of success". And as darkness falls over Barangaroo, he rattles the consciences of those who hesitate before the "call of the one true God". "Life forces a decision," he tells them. According to Pell, following Christ does not come for free; "it is always a struggle."It is a sermon that all present can relate to in some way: the small crowd of pilgrims from South Korea, the marginalized Aborigines, Lebanese immigrants with their cedar flag, nationally conscious U.S. Catholics, the many oceanic groups and groups from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, who are otherwise hardly visible in the world church. In the coming days, they will hear catecheses from their bishops, celebrate the pope, eagerly await the closing event in Randwick, colorfully and piously parade through the streets. And seek a community that might make them more convinced Catholics.