Sydney racecourse to be site of closing Mass for World Youth Day 2008

Published: 2006-10-10

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Royal Randwick Racecourse has been named as the venue for the overnight vigil and final Mass to be celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day in July 2008. Sydney Cardinal George Pell, chairman of the local organizing committee for World Youth Day, made the announcement Oct. 6 with Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, who was in Sydney reviewing preparations for the event. Cardinal Pell said the racecourse, located about three miles south of Sydney's central business district, offers the best combination of "space, uninterrupted sightlines and transport links." He said he expected up to 300,000 pilgrims to walk to the site for the vigil with Pope Benedict XVI; those young people usually sleep under the stars. He said as many as 300,000 more are expected to arrive the following morning for the pope's closing Mass.

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