The Pope's visit to Sydney - Comments

[aldona]

Here are some comments from today's newspapers about the papal visit to Sydney for World Youth Day (which has just finished).

Quote:

The World Youth Day is over and it has been successful, despite the bigots and the naysayers and various sections of the media. No doubt we will soon see "There's no doubt about Sydney, it can put on an event".

I will remember the joy, friendliness and enthusiasm of the young people. These days it's hard to get enthusiasm from young people and the pilgrims had it in spades. They loved the world and the world - mostly - loved them.

I attended part of the Stations of the Cross - and was humbled by the quietness of the hundreds of watchers at the Opera House. No singing and dancing - just reverence.

I watched the papal Mass on TV and will remember the wonderful music arranged by an Australian. It reminded me that the Catholic Church, over the centuries, has been the patron of so many artists, musicians and sculptors.

A comment on the racing fraternity. Anthony Cummins is still complaining "the club is entitled to make the best use of its assets". Isn't Randwick racecourse the property of the people and doesn't the "club" pay just a peppercorn rental for it?

Another memory will be of the harbour and what a backdrop it makes to anything we put on it.

At such events I remember that many of the police force would not be in agreement with the day's activities but they do their job and during the past week they did it well.

A regret - I missed The Chaser. I would have liked to have seen their take on it all.

Another wonderful memory will be the young women and men at the Muslim school at Greenacre who invited up to 280 pilgrims to use their facilities. I do hope that Christians and Muslims will take notice of this.

Unfortunately the church did not fully and openly explain the Government's financial contribution to the event - this would have taken some of the wind out of the sails of some critics.

All in all, I thank the pilgrims. They brightened our lives. May they continue to feel so good about the world.

Gloria Healey, Condell Park (Sydney Morning Herald)

Quote:

What an incredible country. I had intended to pen an anti-Pope/anti-religion diatribe, but while I still retain that opinion, I have been impressed by the way everything seemed to gel. The protesters and pilgrims tolerated one another peacefully (apart from the odd thrown condom) and even public transport worked.

The lessons from this must be that the draconian Third Reich-style, annoying T-shirt legislation was unnecessary, and, whatever the Government and CityRail did, let us have more of it.

Finally, where was The Chaser team? Or did they feel that the church sends itself up so well that their efforts would have been superfluous?

Les Tomlinson, Berowra Heights (Sydney Morning Herald)

Quote:

I must admit I did not enjoy the chaos that accompanied a religious event in a secular city. However, last Thursday morning I was witness to an event that has led me to rethink my prejudices.

Along with half a dozen fellow Jewish volunteers and staff at the Great Synagogue in Elizabeth Street, I was privileged to hear 90-odd young South American Catholic pilgrims, who had just done a tour of the synagogue, sing in perfect harmony and fluent Hebrew, two Jewish prayers with an English translation.

There are obviously some out in the wide world who believe in inter-faith harmony and practise it.

Joe Kensell, Five Dock (Sydney Morning Herald)

Quote:

After a week of lamenting the demise of the rebellious and adventurous youth of yesteryear, I found a group of pilgrims at a bar who gleefully told me they had no intention of seeing the Pope or attending any World Youth Day functions. They were here to have a blast in Sydney, and what better way to scam some free accommodation than to come as a pilgrim. I bought them a drink and felt for the first time in a week that I had something in common with today's youth.

James McKeon, Randwick (Sydney Morning Herald)

Just got me thinking...if 300,000 Adventists (wishful thinking) all assembled in a major city for a week-long religious festival, what kind of atmosphere would there be, and what kind of comments might we see in the media?

aldona

[Woody]

Adventist Meet To Promote World Peace.

[Dr. Shane]

The Adventist church normally gets favorable press when and where we hold our General Conference Session. In 2000 it was in Toranto, Canada. In 2005 it was in St. Loius, Missouri, USA. It was in St. Louis, USA. In 2010 it will be in Atlanta, USA. In 2015 it will be in San Antonio, Texas. In 1975 it was in Vienna, Austria.

[Bravus]

Cassie (my eldest) is doing a school report on the anti-annoyance laws. Not at all against WYD itself, just the ham-fisted attempts of the Iemma government to 'protect' it.

But yeah, I have to say in many ways a very positive event: people coming together in the name of faith.

Do you think we'd get that kind of turnout of SDAs anywhere? We don't really have a rockstar like the Pope as a draw...

I'd hope there would be similar voices of hope, and a feeling that the world might, after all, be safe in the hands of the young.

[Dr. Shane]

I think the GC Sessions have about 40,000 - 50,000 people in attendance.