By Catherine Smibert
SYDNEY, Australia, MARCH 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- At a gathering in a Sydney pub last week, Cardinal George Pell told the crowd of youth that their country needed them.
The appeal came at the beginning of a 10-point presentation titled "God and Caesar" that the archbishop of Sydney gave at this month's Theology on Tap meeting. These meetings are part of the preparatory and formational activities leading up to the youth day event in July.As the cardinal lectured on the historical foundations for the separation of Church and state, the vision was reminiscent of what it must have been like when Jesus taught his disciples and commissioned them out as witnesses. The youth were so engaged that after the 30-minute talk, the moderators found it difficult to stop question time after another solid 30 minutes!
“Not everyone is called to be a politician, thanks be to God!” said Cardinal Pell amid knowing laughter from the youth. “But I would like to encourage you to each seriously think about participating in politics as we desperately need more good men, and especially women, in there.”
Making the Scriptures come alive and applying them to our current climate, the cardinal paralleled the way that the Romans of Jesus’ time, much like the governments of today, didn’t like religious groups “playing up too much.”
His teaching then traveled past the Emperor Constantine, the Council of Nicaea, through St. Thomas Beckett and King Henry VIII, the Hungarian and French Revolutions until arriving in Australia.
“Here in Australia, our situation is radically different from the Church’s situation in many parts of continental Europe because, historically in Australia, Catholics stand on the other side of the fence.”
The cardinal was referring to the fact that while the Church in Europe was generally aligned with the “powers that be” back in the day, the first Catholics down under and in the United States were poor immigrants who never lined up with the establishment.
But he noted that unlike the days of yesteryear, the tension in Australia is no longer between the working class Catholics and the wealthier Protestants, but is rather between those who follow a basically Judeo-Christian point of view and an aggressive secularizing minority who want to change society’s direction.
“A major task,” he said, “for you and for me, is to try to improve and maintain what we call our social capital -- the decent core of our society, and it is not difficult to get statistics to show how our social capital is being eroded, not dramatically, but substantially.”
Yet, it’s not enough to regurgitate the first old argument we hear, notes the cardinal.
“You need to educate yourselves well,” he instructed the group of 18–35 year olds. “It’s all very well to have a religious perspective and grounding on moral issues, but they must be presented on empirical arguments for the majority’s comprehension.”
Amy Vierboom, 19, enjoyed how, on the same note, the Sydney Archbishop “warned us youth not let anyone suggest that because they may be presenting a view that may have its roots in Christianity, that somehow in our democracy it’s not permissible.”
Cardinal Pell added, “Of course it’s permissible -- it’s just that you have to argue it successfully and with reason as well as faith! […] We need the majority approval for legislation, so we must avoid debates that are self-indulgent and counter-productive.”
Nathaniel Smith, 28, was struck by the next instruction for the group to “not to only get bogged down in the usual life and family issues, as those of justice, peace and the economy can carry equal importance, if not, overlap.”
“As the Cardinal said,” noted this member of the Young Liberals, “At the end of the day it is all about the truth, and knowing the factors that damage and enhance social cohesion.”
Cardinal Pell ended by saying that “World Youth Day is a good place to start feeling and forming that call to be witnesses at various levels of society -- if not as a priest or religious, then in politics or the media -- if not there, then in the family and home.”
* * *
New Zealand's Days
Australia’s closest neighbor, New Zealand, will be opening its heart and Church doors to welcome international pilgrims for Days in the Diocese, a week of activities prior to the main event in Sydney in July. It's the first time another country will co-host this part of a WYD.
Some 4,000 'Kiwi' pilgrims have signed up for a visit to Australia as well as preparing to receive the international visitors -- quite a feat for this nation of just over 4.2 million people. The population is 14% Catholic, and boasts 6 dioceses.
New Zealand -- or Aotearoa in the Maori language -- has commissioned six World Youth Day ambassadors, from each diocese in the country, who are assigned with the task of motivating their dioceses through Web blogs and events.
“We are already feeling some of the benefits of this great event being in our backyard,” said Joseph Houghton, a leader of the Christchurch Diocese. “The young people are getting more enthused than ever about their faith.”
The Diocese of Christchurch, in the lush South Island of New Zealand, has 560 pilgrims registered, with their flights paid for and pilgrim formation well on the way.
The diocesan preparatory steps include a mini pilgrimage to the small South Island town of Temuka, about two and a half hours away.
The trip not only prepares the pilgrims for what it means to be on pilgrimage, but also connects them to Blessed Mary Mackillop, one of the patron saints of World Youth Day.
Temuka was the first New Zealand foundation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, where Mary Mackillop herself lived between 1897 and 1904.
“The connection with the holy figure of Mary Mackillop in our own diocese makes World Youth Day much more tangible,” says the youth day coordinator of the Christchurch Diocese, Edmund Le Grelle.
In the north of New Zealand, a pre-event outdoor concert gathered 600 pilgrims and talent from across the entire Auckland Diocese.
“The concert built the enthusiasm of the diocese, leaving them all wanting to do it all again,” said Manuel Beazley, the Auckland World Youth Day Ambassador.
Beazley has been in youth ministry for the Church in New Zealand for over a decade, but has been particularly touched by the way this World Youth Day is seeing the community respond.
“Traveling around the diocese and being a part of so many fundraising events -- such as last weekend's 'Soul of the City' Festival -- I have acquired a deep respect for the leaders, parents and supporters of all the World Youth Day pilgrims who have tirelessly sold cakes, sausages, prayer cards -- you name it. They've washed cars; put up with loud music at fundraising socials; sold raffle tickets; walked the streets and more.”
He adds that these community members “are the unsung heroes of this World Youth Day pilgrimage […] and I know that when WYD is over, [their] work and efforts will begin to bear fruit for the Church and the kingdom of God.”
Although the New Zealand pilgrims are already paid and registered to attend Sydney -- as of March 10 -- fundraising is still a hot issue.
Funds are also being put into unique World Youth Day initiatives of New Zealand such as the "Footprint Program" -- a project that asks pilgrims to donate money for environmental initiatives to offset the "carbon footprint" left by traveling to and from the event.
Similarly, the online competition titled “Being Christ’s Hands and Feet?” highlights the importance of social justice activities. Pilgrim groups are asked to send in a short explication of an outreach program they've done, and the winner receives free World Youth Day gear.
Through these initiatives the youth of New Zealand are nurturing a faith applicable to the modern world. It’s a faith that the youth of New Zealand are looking forward to not only sharing with other pilgrims, but also to using as a cornerstone of faith in their own nation.
[Written with Chelsea Pelham, a volunteer from New Zealand working in Sydney’s World Youth Day office.]
* * *
Themed Vestments
Each World Youth Day has provided specially designed vestments for the world’s cardinals, bishops, priests and deacons to wear at the Masses and liturgies during the weeklong event in July.
And Sydney is no exception.
Just this week a few priests from St. Mary’s Sydney Cathedral modeled the chasubles -- of which 700 have been produced -- and the stoles -- 3,000 in production.
“The vestments are an earthy red colour to reflect Australia’s unique landscape,” said Father Peter Williams, World Youth Day '08 director of liturgy. “They feature the Southern Cross on the front, signifying Australia as the Great Southern Land of the Holy Spirit."
“This is reinforced by the indigenous image on the back of the chasuble -- 'Marjorie’s Bird' -- also representing the Holy Spirit,” he added
This latter is especially fitting for two reasons.
One, the Holy Spirit is key to the theme of this World Youth Day -- “You Will Receive Power When the Holy Spirit Comes on You."
Two, the incorporation of an aboriginal flavor.
"Marjorie’s Bird" was created by indigenous artist Marjorie Liddy from the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.
Father Williams noted that the Sydney World Youth Day office wanted “to ensure we reflect our unique landscape, history and cultural influences when the international spotlight is on Sydney for this great event.”
Both sets of vestments were designed by art curator and historian, Sister Rosemary Crumlin, of the Sisters of Mercy, and the Melbourne firm Stuart Pettigrew Design.
* * *
Catherine Smibert is a freelance writer in Sydney, Australia. She can be reached at catherine@zenit.org.
