SU's Anthony Mwangi (second left standing), and Francis Odhiambo (middle foreground) with pilgrims from Philippines

Pope Benedict described the recently concluded World Youth Day (WYD) as an extraordinary experience. WYD is a global week-long pilgrimage of faith with the Pope. It is probably the largest youth event in the world.

This year's WYD, (WYD08) was held between 15th and 20th July in Sydney, Australia.  It was also marked the first visit to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI. The atmosphere was festive and the mood exhilarating. But the focus was on prayer and helping young people to grow in faith. Every day, Mass, prayers and teaching (catechesis) on the essential aspects of the Catholic faith were held as well as music and cultural events.

The Pope stressed the importance of education in a meeting he had with youths from developing countries. The principal objective of every WYD is to "make the person of Jesus the centre of the faith and life of every young person". This year's theme was “You will receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witness” (Acts 1:8).

WYD08 had pilgrims from 170 countries. Pope Benedict XVI called Australia the "Great South Land of the Holy Spirit". For many, Sydney may well have seemed like evangelizing to "the ends of the earth." Kenya had its own share of pilgrims organized in different groups. Strathmore University and Strathmore School had more than 20 pilgrims attending WYD08.

WYD08 pilgrims filled the streets and charmed the locals with their vitality and purpose. They even changed the tone of the local media, which had insisted the high cost of airfares and the distance would keep the youth away from WYD08.

On July 19, the pilgrims more than 220,000 gathered to pray with the pope, party and sleep under the stars. As the vigil wore on, the pilgrims divided themselves into two distinct groups -- the exuberant music-making kind and the utterly exhausted. For many, the nine-mile pilgrimage walk with a full backpack and bedroll from MacKillop Chapel in north Sydney had taken its toll. As others revelled, whole sections quietly folded themselves into their sleeping bags and retired to sleep.

The vigil culminated in the final Mass the morning after celebrated by the Pope who gave the Sacrament of Confirmation to 24 youth. After the Mass, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the next World Youth Day will be in Madrid, Spain in 2011.
Speaking before the weekly Angelus prayer at his northern summer residence outside Rome on the 28th of July, Pope Benedict XVI described his trip to Australia for World Youth Day as "an extraordinary experience" which demonstrated the youthful face of the Roman Catholic Church. He paid tribute to "the multicoloured mosaic created by the boys and girls from every part of the earth, all reunited by one faith in Jesus Christ''.

"I still have in my eyes and in my heart this extraordinary experience, in which I was able to meet the youthful face of the Church,'' the Pope said.

WYD meetings are held in a different country every two to three years. WYD08 was the second with Benedict XVI as Pope. WYD05 held in Cologne, Germany saw him make his first trip to his home country as Pope in August 2005.

WYD was founded in 1985 by Pope John Paul II. Millions of young Catholics have since then travelled the globe to meet the Pope in spots as far-flung as Toronto, Denver and Manila in the Philippines.

The turnouts are huge: 2.5 million young people attended the WYD in Rome in 2000. In Toronto in 2002, youth from 160 nations were represented. Smaller diocesan youth days are organised most years.

The official World Youth Day 20008 website, http://www.wyd2008.org/, contains a photo gallery of the main events.