Today we began a beautiful stage in our pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2008 as we joined the Journey of the Cross and Icon in Adelaide, South Australia. After arriving in Adelaide, a lovely southern city nicknamed the “City of Churches,” we were taken to Port Adelaide to greet the Cross and Icon as they arrived by boat.  Entrusted to the youth of the world by Pope John Paul II, the World Youth Day Cross has traveled literally around the world over the last 23 years.  It has been taken to those places most in need of the hope of Christ, places such as the sites of the Rwandan holocaust, the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, and Ground Zero.  In the last years of his pontificate, Pope John Paul added the gift of the Icon of Mary and Jesus to accompany the Cross.  Since its July arrival in Sydney, the Cross has traveled over 30,000 km and has been venerated by over 250,000 people. 

Upon the arrival of the Cross and Icon, the crowds swarmed the port, the same port where Blessed Mary MacKillop arrived when she came to South Australia to found the first school of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.  The Welcoming Ceremony included speeches by local dignitaries and Bishop Greg O’Kelly, as well as an Indigenous musical and smoking ceremony.  An aspect of the Journey of the Cross and Icon that is unique to Australia is the inclusion of the handing over of the “Message Stick.”  The unique carved stick includes images sacred to the Indigenous Peoples and is only brought out when there is a representative of the Indigenous community to receive it and proclaim the special message of Pope John Paul II in which he pointed out that the Church in Australia would not be complete until the Indigenous Peoples were welcomed and embraced by the members of the Church.  After the Welcoming Ceremony, a procession carried the Cross and Icon through the streets of Adelaide to the Church of the Immaculate Conception.  The joyful music, ethnic costumes, and impressive sight of the large cross drew much attention from the people in the streets.  The interest and desire to join in the procession that were sparked gave us a glimpse of the power World Youth Day will have, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw people to Christ and inspire them to be witnesses to the transforming power of His love.

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