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Catholic World News News Feature

Theme & dates set for Sydney World Youth Day January 03, 2006

The Vatican has announced the theme for the 23rd World Youth Day celebration, which will take place July 15- 20, 2008, in Sydney, Australia.

The theme for the event is taken from the Acts of the Apostles (1:8): "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses."

Both the theme and the dates for World Youth Day were officially confirmed by the Vatican on January 3 with the publication of the 15th edition of I Care, a magazine for World Youth Day, produced by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

Pastoral planning for World Youth Day can now begin, the magazine says, because Pope Benedict XVI "has already fixed the steps of the spiritual itinerary" leading up to the event.

According to Australian news reports, the bishops of that country had suggested a different theme: "Take up your cross and follow me." But Pope Benedict wanted a theme emphasizing the role of the Holy Spirit.

The Vatican magazine also listed themes for the World Youth Day observances of the next two years, which will be held at the diocesan level. For 2006 the theme is from Psalm 119: "Your word is a lamp for my steps, a light on my path." For 2007 the theme is taken from the Gospel of St. John (13:34): "Just as I loved you, so you should love one another."

I Care reminded readers that in his annual message for World Youth Day, delivered on Palm Sunday, the Pope traditionally offers a meditation on the theme for that year's observance. Pope Benedict is scheduled to preside at this year's World Youth Day events in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday, April 9.

While looking forward to Sydney, I Care also looks back to the August 2005 celebration of World Youth Day in Cologne. Archbishop Stanislas Rylko, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, describes that event as a great success, which brought "more than 1 million young people from 197 countries" together with the new Pope. World Youth Day celebrations were inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in December 1985. Having drawn together about 300,000 young people for gatherings in Rome in both 1984 and 1985, the late Pope decided to institutionalize the events. The first World Youth Day was held at the diocesan level in 1986; the first international meeting took place in Buenos Aires in 1987.