World Youth Day will be held in Sydney, Australia from 15 - 20 July 2008. The event will mark the first visit to Australia of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Days in the Dioceses will take place in the lead-up to WYD08, from 10-14 July 2008.

Organised by the Catholic Church, World Youth Day brings together young people from around the globe to celebrate and learn about their faith on a more regular basis.

Initiated by Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day has been held every year since 1986 when the first event was held in Rome. Sydney will host the 10th international WYD and 23rd WYD overall.

World Youth Day has been held in Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), Rome (2000 Jubilee), Toronto (2002), and Cologne (2005).

Please check the WYD08 Events page of the website for up to date details. .

World Youth Day week will commence on Tuesday 15 July and the overview includes:

Tuesday 15 July 08
Opening Mass at Barangaroo, celebrated by Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell followed by a concert

Wednesday 16 - Friday 18 July 08
Catechesis (teaching) sessions every morning and Youth Festival events afternoon / evening

Thursday 17 July 08
Arrival and welcome of the Pope at Barangaroo

Friday 18 July 08 - evening
Stations of the Cross - a re-enactment of the last moment?s Jesus? life

Saturday 19 July 08
Pilgrimage walk to Randwick Racecourse, evening Vigil with the Pope and sleep out "under the stars"

Sunday 20 July 08
Final Mass at Randwick Racecourse and concluding events

An estimated 500,000 participants are expected to attend at least one event during the World Youth Day week.

We expect Sydney to receive ,185000 domestic and international visitors during this time. A media contingent of 3,000 is anticipated.

At the last international WYD in Cologne in 2005, 1.2 million people attended the Final Mass and 7,000 media personnel covered the event.

World Youth Day is open to all. While World Youth Day celebrates the Catholic faith, its message is relevant to all people and all are welcome. Many non-Catholic Christians and others have taken part in previous WYDs.

WYD08 will be held in July, which is during winter in Sydney.
By way of comparison, Sydney in July would generally experience temperatures similar to those of:

• Rome in April
• Paris, Madrid, London, Dublin and Washington in May
• Krakow and Toronto in June

Over the past few years, the average maximum daily temperature has been 17-18 degrees Celsius (approx 62-64 degrees Fahrenheit), while the average minimum has been 8-9 degrees Celsius (approx 46-48 degrees Fahrenheit).

Sydney has successfully hosted a large number of international events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2000 and the Rugby World Cup in 2003. Those who did not participate in these events were able to carry on with their daily routines, while the participants received excellent hospitality and efficient service.

We expect this will happen again in July 2008, despite expectations of larger crowds for some events than ever experienced before in Sydney.

WYD08 is working closely with the NSW State Government and its agencies and the City of Sydney Council to ensure that Sydney will still function effectively despite the high numbers of pilgrims in town. The NSW State Government has set up a special authority called the World Youth Day Coordination Authority (WYDCA) to manage health, transport and security for the event. Visit the WYDCA website for information on how the event will affect the city.

This website includes a range of pastoral material designed to prepare young people spiritually.

Young people are encouraged to register as a WYD08 member and receive the monthly ePILGRIMAGE, a cyber epistle featuring a changing theme, testimonies from young people, selected readings and interesting snippets about the lives of saints and places of pilgrimage around the world as well as practical information about WYD08 in Sydney.

Activ8 is the name given to the pastoral program of events, activities and materials developed by WYD08 to prepare our young people across the Dioceses in our parishes, youth groups, schools and homes for World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.

Three registration packages are available, allowing prospective pilgrims to select the level of accommodation, number of meals, etc they prefer. Packages include health insurance, rail and public transport, pilgrim backpack, preferential access to venues for the key events and program books.

Details of each of the registration packages are available now under the Pilgrim & Registration section. No package exceeds $AUD400 for the WYD08 week.

The cost of transport to Sydney or around Australia is not included in the packages, although many will include a transport pass for use during the WYD08 week in Sydney.

WYD08 registration is done online, although paper-based registration will be possible for those who do not have access to computers. Click here to register

Pilgrims are encouraged to join a pilgrim group travelling to Sydney

A variety of accommodation styles are available - groups can select the style that best suits their needs and budget.

Pilgrims will be accommodated in hotels, backpack accommodation, in suburban homes, in schools and in church halls.

If you are part of a group, you should contact Harvest Youth Tours, the official WYD08 tour operator and hotel accommodations manager (see www.wydtours.com ).

Individuals can book rooms through the WYD08 registration system as part of the registration process.

Travel arrangements to Australia are the responsibility of pilgrims and their groups. Harvest Youth Tours, as the official WYD08 Tour Operator will be able to assist, as will any registered travel agent in your home country.

Yes. Australia has a universal visa system and all non-Australian pilgrims need a visa to enter Australia before boarding their plane; they cannot apply for a visa on arrival. Your visa application is part of your registration process. Follow the information online, when you register.

Through support offered by the Australian Government, visas are free of government charges there are no quotas on visas from any country (ie. there will be no limit on the number of visas issued to any country) and they allow multiple entry into Australia for three months. Pilgrims may wish to travel after WYD08.

It is always advisable to take out travel insurance when embarking on an overseas trip. It is intended that one of the business partners of WYD08 will be offering travel insurance for international and domestic travel at discount rates. Please check the Pilgrim Offers <link to> section of the website

Volunteers will play an important part and will be critical to the success of WYD08.

Applications for Volunteers are open, please visit the Volunteer section of the website for further information.

Volunteer for WYD08!! We need 8000 volunteers to help us run the event. Please click here for more information.

WYD08?s full time staff positions are nearly all filled. You can check the Join the Team section of this site, for current employment opportunities.

Youth Festival applications have closed.

For the days leading up to WYD08 , the dioceses of Australia and New Zealand will welcome the youth of the world in what is best described as a cultural exchange in the context of faith.

Days in the Dioceses is an excellent opportunity for the youth of the world to join local communities in prayer and celebration, to experience Australia beyond Sydney, to help renew the Church in the places they visit, and receive some Aussie local hospitality.

Activities of the days, organised by the dioceses, often include:

· Encounters with the local Church community

· Cultural activities and visits to local sites of interest

· Prayer and visits to shrines

· Social service projects

Get involved with your local Church or youth group!

Register now or Volunteer .

Australians can register and arrange accommodation in the same way as international pilgrims ? registration <link> is open now. If you have friends or family in Sydney, you might like to take a package without accommodation and stay with them. Pilgrims are encouraged to join a group organised by a diocese, community, movement or youth ministry.

Yes, even if you are from Sydney you will need to register as a pilgrim to get the full experience of World Youth Day!. One of the packages (Package B) provides you with meals, transport etc (but not accommodation) during the WYD08 week. Registered pilgrims will get priority access over general public at all major events, get a great pilgrim backpack filled with goodies and attend Catechesis.

A special WYD08 school curriculum has been developed for use in schools Australia-wide. You can find out more about it at Australian schools . Schools are also getting involved in fundraising to help pilgrims from less advantaged nations come to WYD08.

This is your chance to play an important and rewarding role in Sydney's hosting of the world's biggest youth event. We are asking Homestay Hosts to volunteer to host pilgrims from overseas - or from outside Sydney - from 14 July to 21 July 2008.

Pilgrims will be 18 years or older. Homestay Hosts will be asked to provide bed and breakfast (cold or hot) on a complimentary basis. This is a parish-based program, but will be open to all Homestay Hosts in Sydney. In fact, many non-Catholic Homestay Hosts will also take part in the program.

Your local parish has a HomeStay Coordinator who will meet you to explain the program and answer any questions you may have. To become a HomeStay Host, please complete this registration form ; if there is anything you'd like to ask about, please email your questions to homestay@wyd2008.org along with your name and a contact telephone number.

While the WYD08 office is coordinating the Journey of the Cross and Icon (JCI), the celebratory events are conducted by each diocese of Australia as the JCI passes through the local region. You can check out our calendar on the website, or contact the WYD08 representative in your local Catholic Diocese and offer your assistance.

For the most up to date information, check the WYD08 Events section of the website.

Major events from Tues-Fri will be held in the Sydney CBD, with the Saturday Evening Vigil and Final Mass held at Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park Randwick has been the location of three Papal Masses previously but is being extended to include Centennial park accommodate the largest ever crowd at a single event in Australian history.

The Final Mass at previous World Youth Days has traditionally drawn very large crowds of people.

The WYD08 organisers wanted a site that could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people with uninterrupted views of the altar for as many people as possible. The site also had to be capable of accommodating hundreds of thousands more nearby in Centennial Park.

It was also important to have a site that could be reached easily by as many people as possible via public transport and on foot. Central Station has 28 platforms and can move more people than any other train station in Sydney.

After examining 18 potential sites, Randwick Racecourse was the venue deemed most likely to give the best possible experience in terms of line of sight to the altar, capacity, comfort, transport and ease of access for attendees.

The NSW Government and Australian Government are responsible for security for the event. WYD08 has been involved in planning for various scenarios by State and Federal security forces. The Government security task forces are in place to oversee the provision of appropriate security screening up to and during WYD08

The currency in Australia is the Australian Dollar. There are 100 cents in 1 Australian dollar. There are notes for $100, $50, $20, $10 and $5. There are coins for $2, $1, $0.50, $0.20, $0.10 and $0.05.

Registered pilgrims get priority access to all WYD08 events Registration is not compulsory, but allows you to receive all the services provided by WYD08 such as accommodation, meals, transport pass, visa facilitations, health insurance and preferred access to key venues. If you do not register, you will not benefit from these services or if a venue is full you may not be able to access it.

Group leaders must be 18 years of age by the 31st July 2008.

Volunteers must be 18 years of age by 1 July 2008.

Yes - you must choose the diocese you want to be hosted by. WYD08 will not allocate you to any particular diocese as Days in the Dioceses are being managed individually by each diocese, not the WYD08 office.

No - WYD08 will not assign you to a diocese at all. You have to choose the diocese you want to be hosted by and make your arrangements directly with them.

There are no charges for pilgrims hosted for Days in the Dioceses; the diocese will offer you meals and accommodation but you will be responsible for transport to, from and within the diocese.

Additional train services have been scheduled during World Youth Day for pilgrims staying in the Sydney suburban area and pilgrim packages include free travel on services in this area. There is limited capacity on intercity train services scheduled for World Youth Day. Intercity train services include the Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Newcastle & Central Coast and South Coast. These intercity services are heavily used by commuters and consequently there is limited space available on these trains. Pilgrims staying outside the Sydney suburban area are advised not to rely on these services, and where possible make alternative travel arrangements. Please note pilgrim transport is not valid for travel outside of the Sydney suburban area.

Yes you have to - the links are provided on the WYD08 website.

You don't need to be a marketing specialist to raise money to come to Sydney. Here are some simple suggestions: organise a ball, a dinner or a fete in your parish/community; sell homemade products (cakes, tablecloths) to a local fair; organise a youth car wash in your suburb; a raffle, a race or a trivia night with WYD08 official merchandise as prizes.

WYD08 is more than happy to support any legitimate activity to promote World Youth Day. If you need to use the WYD08 logo, make sure you fill the request in this section and wait to hear back from us. If your request is successful, you will receive a high resolution file of the Logo. Please always refer to our guidelines.

If you are a Church recognised organisation you can request a Fundraiser code and become an Official WYD08 Fundraiser. This code will give you access to a special section of the WYD08 online shop where you can buy official merchandise at reduced prices. This will allow your organisation to re-sell the products and save the proceeds to raise funds for your travel to Sydney.

The proceeds from the sale of WYD08 official merchandise are used to finance the event and to support pilgrims coming from disadvantaged countries. Therefore, by buying WYD08 official merchandise, you are helping us prepare your event and other pilgrims like to you to join us for WYD in 2008.

No, you can buy 1 or more items though we suggest that you talk to your friends and community members before placing an order, asking them if they would like to receive something too, so that you can then share shipping costs with them.

Our first recommendation is for you to contact your parish and/or diocese and join their group of pilgrims: you will then be involved in all activities to assist you in the preparation of your pilgrimage towards Sydney. Please also read the information about the Solidarity Fund.

Yes, we will make sure that all pilgrims will receive language assistance and support. WYD08 volunteers will help us in this task, in the official Vatican languages of English, Italian, French and Spanish.

The pilgrim guide will be available in the 4 official languages: English, Italian, Spanish and French.

We warmly encourage any legitimate translation in other languages for the purposes of spreading the word in those communities where languages other than the 4 official ones are spoken. Please feel free to translate any document published on this website and to distribute it within your community. WYD08 however, cannot officially endorse translated websites.

AUSLAN assistance will be provided during the event. If you or your group use another sign-language, please contact your association: we seek your assistance in finding volunteers to provide translations or other sign-languages. Visit the Disability section of the website for further information.

Youth Festival applications have now closed, so there are no opportunities available.

No.