SYDNEY - Pope Benedict texted thousands of young pilgrims in
Australia on Tuesday, urging them to renew their faith as they gathered for the
Catholic Church's largest youth festival.
Hymns and chants of hallelujah filled Sydney's streets as
hundreds of thousands of young Catholics from around the world gathered for the
opening mass of World Youth Day, July 15-20.
"Young friend, God and his people expect much from u because
u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI," read
the first of the Pope's daily text messages which will be sent out during World
Youth Day.
Using "u" instead of "you" is a popular shortcut among youth
around the world, who send millions of text, or SMS, messages daily.
Pope Benedict arrived in Sydney on Sunday and will attend
World Youth Day events from Thursday, culminating in a Sunday mass before an
estimated 300,000 pilgrims.
The Pope has said he will apologize to Australian victims of
sexual abuse in the church. Broken Rites, which represents abuse victims, has a
list of 107 convictions for church abuse, but says there may be thousands more
victims as only a few go to court.
The Pope confronted the issue of sexual abuse in the church
during a visit to Washington in April, meeting victims and vowing to keep
pedophiles out of the priesthood.
Sydney is treating World Youth Day as bigger than the
Olympics, urging workers to take holidays. Organizers estimate the event will
earn the city up to A$200 million.
But the Catholic Church hopes the biggest windfall will be religious in a
country where church attendances are falling. Despite being led by the oldest
Pope elected, the church believes the 81-year-old pontif can still engage with
young people. - Reuters
