This Sunday 9 April at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney’s Catholic community will share in a special Palm Sunday Mass and a local celebration of the Handover of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon (in Rome).

After the 6pm Palm Sunday Mass, the young people at the Cathedral will watch a broadcast from St Peter’s Square, Rome where the World Youth Day Cross and Icon will be accepted by a delegation of young Australians from every state and territory.

The program, which starts at 8pm, will also be available to audiences across Sydney by tuning to Sydney’s new free-to-air television station, TVS, which is the local host broadcaster of the Handover ceremony.

The Handover of the Cross officially marks the start of Sydney’s role as host city for World Youth Day 2008, the world’s largest youth event.

World Youth Day in Sydney will be held July 15 – 20, 2008 with a range of activities and programs including a Papal Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, who will also preside over the Handover ceremony in Rome on Sunday.

Bishop Julian Porteous, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, said the Handover was cause for celebration and contemplation of the responsibility of hosting the Catholic Church’s day for and with the youth of the world.

“It is a great honour for the Archdiocese of Sydney to be hosting World Youth Day 2008 in our city,” said Bishop Porteous.

“World Youth Day brings together the young people of the world to encounter Christ, build bridges of friendship and hope between continents, peoples and cultures.

“We expect as many as 500,000 young people to gather for World Youth Day 2008 and around 130,000 of them will be visiting from overseas.

“As we accept the Cross and Icon from the youth of the previous international WYD host country, Germany, we begin in an official way the journey of preparation for this great event and the congregation at St Mary’s will celebrate on Sunday and share in this historical moment.”

Jerome Smith will be watching the broadcast of the Handover at St Mary’s with great interest. The 23-year old from Epping attended World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany and was present when Pope Benedict XVI announced that Sydney would host the event in 2008. His brother Nat is also among the youth delegates representing Sydney at the Handover in Rome.

“Having been to World Youth Day in Cologne and experiencing the energy and friendship among hundreds of thousands of young people from all around the world, I am very proud to be a Sydneysider and an Australian hosting this great event,” said Jerome.

“While World Youth Day is a Catholic Church event, it is a chance for young people of all denominations and from around the world to share in the ideals of peace, harmony and learning from each other.

“With massive crowds of young people from all walks of life coming together in a peaceful, sharing manner, I hope it will help break down some barriers in our society and stimulate change.”

The St Mary’s Palm Sunday Mass will begin at 6:00pm, followed by a performance by Gary Pinto and Band, including a song specially composed to mark the occasion of the Handover of the World Youth Day Cross.

At 8:00pm the St Mary’s congregation will view the World Youth Day Cross and Icon Handover from Rome on a large screen.

The World Youth Day Sydney 2008 logo and official website will also be launched on Sunday - visit www.wyd2008.org

TVS (Television Sydney) is available on UHF 31. Information on how to tune to TVS is available on the station’s website www.tvs.org.au

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