The Stations of the Cross was a prayerful re-enactment of the last days of Jesus' life, which took place in Sydney on Friday 18 July.

Station 1: The Last Supper with a special appearance by the Holy Father
St Mary's Cathedral
Performance by St Mary's Cathedral choir

Station 2: The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ prepares for his death
The Domain

Station 3: Jesus before the Sanhedrin
The Art Gallery of NSW

Station 4: Jesus before Pontius Pilate
Sydney Opera House

Station 5: Jesus is whipped and crowned
Sydney Opera House Forecourt

Station 6:Jesus carries his Cross
Sydney Opera House Forecourt

Station 7: Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyreneonboard a floating pontoon
Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour

Station 8: Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem
Barangaroo, Centre Stage

Station 9: Jesus is stripped and nailed
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 10:Jesus and the Good Thief
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 11: Jesus speaks to Mary and John
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 12:Jesus dies on the cross
Barangaroo North Stage

Station 13:The body of Jesus is brought down from the Cross
Barangaroo North Stage

History:

The history of the Stations of the Cross dates to the early days of the Church when pilgrims visited the holy sites in Jerusalem to walk the path Christ followed to Calvary.The pilgrims then brought the devotion back to their home countries and constructed replicas of the sacred sites.

On Friday morning, the Holy Father held private meetings with the Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir; the Premier of NSW Morris Iemma; and the Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore and their families.

He then prayed with other Christian leaders in the Crypt of St Mary?s Cathedral where he thanked Bishop Robert Forsythe from the Anglican Church and Cardinal Pell after they both gave addresses.

He also extended his warm wishes to Cardinal Edward Cassidy, former President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who could not attend the event due to ill-health.

His Holiness applauded the ecumenical effort of Australians: ?Australians cherish cordial and frank discussion. This has served the ecumenical movement well. An example would be the Covenant signed in 2004 by the members of the National Council of Churches in Australia.?

But he also spoke of the importance of moving forward: ?Dear friends in Christ, I think you would agree that the ecumenical movement has reached a critical juncture. To move forward, we must continually ask God to renew our minds with the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us through the scriptures and guides us into all truth.

?We must guard against any temptation to view doctrine as divisive and hence an impediment to the seemingly more pressing and immediate task of improving the world in which we live. In fact, the history of the Church demonstrates that praxis isnot only inseparable from, but actually flows out of, didacheor teaching.?

Following this prayer, he met representatives of other faith traditions in St Mary?s Cathedral Chapter House. Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence from the Great Synagogue in Sydney and Sheik Shady Alsuleiman from the National Council of Imams both delivered addresses.

In his role as spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict thanked the 40 people in attendance for their work in bringing peace and faith to the community.

?My dear friends, I have come to Australia as an ambassador of peace. For this reason, I feel blessed to meet you who, likewise, share this yearning and the desire to help the world attain it. Our quest for peace goes hand in hand with our search for meaning, for it is in discovering the truth that we find the sure road to peace. Our effort to bring about reconciliation between peoples springs from, and is directed to, that truth which gives purpose to life. Religion offers peace, but more importantly, it arouses within the human spirit a thirst for truth and a hunger for virtue.?

The Pope then dined with 12 lucky young people from across the world. Those chosen were:

· Armando Cervantes: 27, USA

· Clare Dooley: 30, New Zealand

· Craig Ashby: 21, Australia

· Fidel Mateos Rodriguez: 25, Spain

· Gabriel Nangile: 28, Papua New Guinea

· Helena de Sousa: 25, East Timor

· Ijeoma Jacinta Igwe: 25, Nigeria

· Jean Fabien (Muaka Muaka Baloza): 29, Democratic Republic of the Congo

· Jorgiana Aldren Lima de Santana: 26, Brazil

· Marie-Bénédicte Esnault: 22, France

· Teresa Wilson: 31, Australia

· Wonhyong Cho: 28, Korea

The Pope and young people dined on sweet potato and pear soup for entrée, Chicken Diane for main course, and lemon and passionfruit meringue pie for dessert.

The Holy Father then attended the first station of the Stations of the Cross event - The Last Supper, on the steps of St Mary?s Cathedral - and then watched the event from the Crypt of the Cathedral.

More than 270,000 people were expected to watch the Stations at event sites around Sydney.

The Holy Father?s final meeting started at 6.45pm where he met disadvantaged young people from Australia at the Sacred Heart Church in Darlinghurst.

Young Australians Samantha Gerdes and Andrew Holmes addressed the Holy Father at this meeting.

Speeches

Stations of the Cross - Liturgy Guide

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