Blue Mountains. To see something of the country. The young people from the archdiocese of Cologne are going on an excursion today. I'm going to the city to see the pope off to Rome – and for myself, to end World Youth Day. A typical Monday in Sydney. After the motley festival of faith, everyday life returns.
The World Youth Day flags are still waving in the fresh breeze on the bridges in Darling Harbour. The stages are already dismantled. Morning calm in the harbor. On the promenade I meet a prayer group. Mexicans holding their morning devotions in the middle of the city. But otherwise I hardly see any of the signal-colored backpacks or the safari-colored hats that accompanied me so cheerfully on my walks in the days before. The halls in the Convention Center are already conquered by the next big event. "FoodPro," is the name of the food fair to which busy men in dark suits are hurrying: "Taste the difference," reads one poster. Australia's "biggest food processing exhibition" takes place here next week."Last night I sat with my aunt and uncle for a long time. They have lived in Australia for almost fifty years, but have nothing to do with the Catholic Church. "Australians can't do anything with such authoritarian institutions as the Catholic Church," says my uncle. He himself was raised strictly Catholic and was an enthusiastic boy scout in his youth: "Our coexistence here works very well even without the church," he says now. Interested he is nevertheless and can be very upset about the sexual morals of the Catholics and the celibacy. On the ABC television program at 11 p.m. there is a report about the celibacy of Catholic priests – we watch it together. An Australian archbishop explains that celibacy cannot be abolished for economic reasons alone. In Australia, there are no church taxes and parishes pay their priests out of their own pockets. They couldn't afford a priest with a family, the archbishop says. My uncle is not convinced by these economic arguments. "If the church no longer forced priests to be celibate, if it admitted women to the priesthood and relaxed sexual morals, which no one adheres to any more anyway, it would have a much larger following," says my uncle. I don't believe it and try to explain to him that the crisis of faith in the western world is much deeper and more complicated. After all, the Protestant Church has no celibacy and women are pastors there. But in terms of resignations, it is not inferior to the Catholic Church in Germany. Long conversations – we will certainly continue them in the coming days, because I'm staying in Sydney for another two weeks, vacationing with my uncle. Tired is not an expression, not even dog-tired, maybe heavenly tired I fall into bed. Outside my window – in my uncle's garden – an opom sits on a eucalyptus tree. A strange animal that moves nimbly like a squirrel, but is as big and looks like a small anteater. It looks at me curiously. Then disappears with a piece of melon that my aunt put him on a feed board on the tree. I have never seen such an animal.In the press center I meet my old acquaintance Michael Johnson from "Sydney Harald". He is in good spirits, waving to me from afar. "What an amazing event," he enthuses, "What an incredible visit of the pope". The Pope's visit has touched and carried away even him, the non-Catholic. In "The Australian", on the first page, the Holy Father spreads his arms wide and invitingly, he laughs, even his eyes laugh. Above them is written: "Pope,s age of renewal". Everywhere the pope, everywhere Benedict. In the Daily Telegraph, out of his Papa Mobil, he kisses a baby that is handed up to him: "All god,s children," reads the headline. I check my mails. Angelika Winkler from Munsterland has written and thanks me for my diary. Another very nice message comes from the Knauf family. Their children are among the German pilgrims, they are happy that they could follow a little bit in my blog how the young people in Australia are doing. Oh – thank you so much for the lovely feedback! It's the first time I've tried something like this and it was a lot of fun. How will I manage the coming days without my diary?? Well – maybe I'll tell the Opom in my uncle's garden the stories I'm experiencing now. Two weeks vacation. Like many other pilgrims from Germany, I have attached this to the World Youth Day. By the way – Knauf family. Your daughter Lea stayed with the colleague from the Kolner Stadtanzeiger in the same host family in Melbourne. She is doing very well. She raves about the World Youth Day – but she was already infected by the WYD in Cologne. The World Youth Day there strengthened her in her faith and helped her – "with all the problems that one has with the church as a teenager. The Pope is already on the plane to Rome. The cat "Bella" is allowed to stay in Australia in his accommodation in the study center in Kenthurst. The eleven-month-old kitten had been purchased especially to keep Benedict company during his stay there. In the future the staff wants to take care of Bella.On the way back by bus to my uncle's house, I see groups of young people in front of schools and colleges – next to them a large pile of backpacks, rolling suitcases, sleeping mats. In between, the signal colors of the World Youth Day backpacks shine: red-yellow-orange.As the bus stops at a traffic light, I read an advertisement for a Bavarian beer cafe outside a restaurant: "After a long day with my falcon – I deserve a real beer".