Festival leaves pilgrims exhausted but joyous
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:50:00 07/21/2008
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—He was World Youth Day’s undisputed star, but for the more than 200,000 pilgrims who flooded Sydney, it wasn’t just about Pope Benedict XVI.
From a dramatic recreation of Christ’s crucifixion to a massive sleep-out under the stars, the whirlwind week of events held plenty of highlights that left pilgrims exhausted but joyous.
“It’s been crazy, hectic, nuts—but it’s also been serene, calming and very fulfilling,” said Margaret Mazzella, 48, of Westchester, New York, as she rested on a sleeping bag and picked at a tuna sandwich following the festival’s final Mass on Sunday. “From catechesis, to sleeping in the school on the floor.”
“We’re loving it!” fellow parishioner Joanne Niece cut in with a grin.
“We’re not loving it!” a bleary-eyed Mazzella shot back, laughing. “But looking back, it was all worth it.”
Around her, a sea of yawning but still-smiling pilgrims who spent their last night huddled together during a giant sleep-out under the stars at a horse racetrack exchanged good-byes with their new friends. Few got much rest, choosing instead to sing throughout the night as they have for the past week.
Sleep was not much of a fixture at the festival, which featured a slew of non-papal events in between appearances by the Pope before huge crowds.
Slew of events
A reenactment of Jesus’ last days and crucifixion—known as the Stations of the Cross—played out against a backdrop of the city’s most famous landmarks and brought many to tears. A massive pilgrimage over the Sydney Harbor Bridge—which was closed to accommodate them—afforded the faithful both a spiritual journey and a prime opportunity to enjoy one of the best views of the city.
And thousands experienced Australia’s culinary delights at traditional barbecues, where they chowed down on sausages and local favorites such as lamingtons—coconut-covered sponge cakes.
In between scheduled events, pilgrims flooded stores to stock up on stuffed koalas, Ugg boots and other Aussie souvenirs, wandered the streets dancing and singing and squeezed in a bit of sightseeing.
Infectious friendliness
For many pilgrims, the best part was getting to mingle with other young people who traveled from more than 160 countries to share their faith.
“Puerto Rico’s pretty Catholic—but most don’t practice,” said 16-year-old Claudia Caballero of Puerto Rico. “Here … they want to go to Mass, they want to receive the body of Christ.”
Irishman John Conlon, 18, lingered on the racetrack’s lawn with his friends, exchanging sleepy hugs and gossiping about the week’s events. He found the pilgrims’ enthusiasm and friendliness infectious.
“Back at home you wouldn’t get that,” he said. “Here, there’s a feeling of being together.”
Not joyous for everyone
The week, however, was not entirely joyous for everyone.
Pilgrims and protesters faced off briefly during Saturday’s demonstration against the Pope’s policies on homosexuality, contraception and abortion.
“The Pope is wrong, put a condom on!” shouted the protesters who were standing under a cloud of inflated prophylactics. Some threw red-packaged condoms at passing Catholics.
One pilgrim was handcuffed and led away by police after pushing one of the protesters.
But the controversy did little to dampen the pilgrims’ spirits.
Ariana Burgener worked for two years to get her group of 10 fellow parishioners from Toronto, Canada, to World Youth Day. Surveying them as they sat listening to a band belt out religious tunes on the festival stage after Sunday’s Mass, the hard work felt worth it, she said.
“Have you seen the people walking around with the free hug signs?” she said gleefully. “I wish the world was like this.”
Speedy Pope
Still, some pilgrims complained that the Pope sped past them during two motorcades through Sydney—so quickly they barely caught a glimpse of him before he was gone.
“He went by really fast in a limo, I’m very disappointed,” said Margit Begle, a 25-year-old pilgrim from Germany, who waited by the roadway in a park neighboring the horse racing venue to see the Pope celebrate Sunday Mass.
Benedict was on his way to Randwick Racecourse, where he took a much slower ride on the Popemobile through an adoring crowd. He even stopped long enough to plant a kiss on the forehead of a toddler who was held up to his window.
Request to slow down
Organizers of the six-day festival said they had asked the Vatican if Benedict could slow down a bit after Thursday’s trip on the Popemobile through Sydney that shut down a large chunk of the business district.
The Pope made the trip of several kilometers past the Sydney Opera House and other landmarks in less than 15 minutes, waving and smiling at onlookers who had lined the streets.
When it started off from a city wharf, the Popemobile was ringed by security guards walking beside it at a comfortable pace. By the time the Popemobile arrived at home base, St. Mary’s Cathedral on the other side of town, the guards were left in the dust and the car was zipping along.
Sunday’s 1 1/2 loops around the track at Randwick took about half an hour.
Sense of fun
The Pope’s first visit to Australia dominated the local news media for more than a week, and the coverage included a sense of fun as well as serious treatment of issues such as clergy child sex abuse and the future of the Roman Catholic Church.
With more than 200,000 teens and 20-somethings in town, rock ’n’ roll references abounded in headlines and the Internet and mobile phone text messaging was put to good use. Even the Pope weighed in, with daily texts to registered pilgrims citing scripture and signed “BXVI.”
“Pope in Sydney: Mass Hysteria,” The Daily Telegraph, Australia’s highest circulation daily, headlined its front page after tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered together in prayer for the first time in the city.
The newspaper later described the throng as a “Holy Sea” of people and invited pilgrims to become “Pope-arazzi” by posting their snapshots on a specially created site called “Faithbook.”
The more staid broadsheet The Sydney Morning Herald, also got into the act, with a picture of thousands of grinning fans and the headline “Welcome to the papal moshpit” and a story on a pop concert for pilgrims with the headline “Rocking to Bene and the jets.”
Uplifting moment
One of the poignant moments during the papal visit to Australia, however, happened away from the media glare. A gravely ill police officer was granted his wish to meet with the Pope.
Senior Constable Gary Hill, 54, was brought to see Benedict on Wednesday on the eve of the Pope’s first public appearance at the youth festival. At his secluded vacation retreat, the Pope blessed the policeman, and the pair shared a laugh when Benedict donned Hills police cap.
Hill was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2004, battered by a brain tumor in 2005 and stricken with a heart tumor in 2006. Doctors said he only had a small chance of survival, but Hill—a Catholic—fought the cancer and returned to work. Last week, Hill suffered seizures and had to return to the hospital.
Hill died on Sunday, his commanding officer Bruce Lyons said, having been granted his dying wish to meet the Pope.
“I’m grateful for all the people who helped make it happen, and after all the pain his family and colleagues has been through, it was such an uplifting moment,” Lyons said.
Associated Press
|
