Australia takes charge of World Youth Day cross, icon

Published: 2007-03-05

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Australia has taken charge of the World Youth Day cross and Marian icon, symbols of the world's largest youth event which have traveled tens of thousands of miles around the world. The cross and icon left Madagascar in February for Korea, where Australia's stewardship began and will continue until the end of World Youth Day Sydney in July 2008. While on the Korean peninsula, the cross and icon were carried to the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. The zone is the most heavily armed border in the world. Australian Father Chris Ryan, who will to lead the cross and icon on a 12-month journey throughout Australia, went to the zone to pray with some 40 young Koreans. "I went with the WYD cross and icon to the Freedom Bridge that 12,773 POWs (prisoners of war) used in the Korean War to return to the South in 1953," Father Ryan told Catholic News Service in an interview from Imjingak, near the zone. "We prayed for the reunification of North and South Korea. The bridge has become the symbol of reunification in Korea. "The sight of the WYD cross with the Korean flag and razor wire behind it provided a stark backdrop for the simple prayer and rosary of the young pilgrims who had gathered there," he said. The cross and icon will travel through 20 nations in Asia and Oceania before arriving in Australia in July.

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