CAFOD blog

Kevin, Joseph and Stephen

Panic over, we did indeed find four people to share our dinner with, but more about them later…

The opening Mass at Barangaroo, an old dock area which has been rejevenated for WYD, was quite a special experience.

For all those WYD first-timers, it gave a taste of what was to come when 150,000 young people descended from all parts of Sydney and gathered to celebrate the official opening of WYD.

It was quite a spectacle – office workers on their lunchbreaks watched with bemusement, entertainment or just consternation as roads through the centre of Sydney were closed and groups large and small made their way to Barangaroo.

Flags from all over the world were waving, drums, guitars and voices joined together in songs both joyful and spiritual - and a sea of orange and red (the colour of this year’s pilgrim backpacks) slowly wound its way past some of Sydney’s most recognisable landmarks.

The Mass started with a traditional welcome from the Aboringinal people from the area, a spine-tingling display of ancient culture.

It is fascinating to witness the growing integration and respect for the different cultures within Australia, and fantastic to have Aboriginal traditions given such prominence after being oppressed for so long.

It didn’t stop there, with groups from the Torres Strait and Maoris from Aotorea New Zealand, as well as readers from lots of countries and language groups leading parts of the Mass.

We sat with the group from the Brentwood diocese and were surrounded by groups from Korea, Italy, Germany, and even a small group from Belize (I recognised the flag from travelling there!)

After the long, impressive celebration, we had to have dinner.

Both lunch and dinner for all pilgrims was served at the Barangaroo, a massive achievement in logistics and nutrition!

Huge tents dotted the site, staffed by hoards of volunteers who operated the vast banks of microwaves installed to ensure we all had a hot meal.

We managed to find a few other people who were not already in groups of six – Gary, Kevin and Jennifer from the US, and Joseph from Papua New Guinea.

Gary took the six tickets and got in the queue while the rest of us got to know each other – we found out that Kevin had proposed to Jennifer that very day, so we were sharing their engagement dinner! 

Joseph’s reflections on Sydney were amazing. Never having left his country before, and having English as his third language, he described seeing skyscrapers for the first time by saying “We don’t have permanent buildings where I come from”.

He talked about only having kerosene lamps and no running water, which explained his awe at the festival-style lighting pylons, giant screens projecting the live feed from the altar and the abundance of food and drink for everyone.

Even we were surprised at the quality of the festival toilets – they were fully plumbed in with a proper flush!

Speaking to Joseph not only helped us really experience the global Church, but also to reaffirm why we are participating in WYD – to bring about change for a fairer world.

This means a chance for all to have access to the basics for life but, more than that, making sure everyone can reach their full potential.

Caritas Australia’s exhibition on the Millennium Development Goals couldn’t have been more pertinent, as we had met someone who shared the same faith as us and yet came from a seemingly different world.

In Joseph’s country, access to health, education and other building blocks for true development were not available. He kept saying to us “How will PNG move forward to be like this?”

We honestly couldn’t answer, but share his hope that one day it could.

Posted by AnnaF

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