Before the prayer vigil at the Randwick racecourse.

Sydney, July 28, 2008. Among the nearly 250,000 youth who participated in World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI in Sydney were hundreds of Regnum Christi members from 14 countries: Australia, New Zealand, U.S., Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Burkina Faso, the Philippines, Germany, Spain, and France.

When the Holy Father went by boat to the bay, one of the boats following him was full of Regnum Christi youth and other invitees. Various Legionaries of Christ accompanied the groups from various countries and helped with confessions.


Preparing for World Youth Day

Regnum Christi members from Oceania have been involved in various activities preparing and promoting  the event for months. Just prior to World Youth Day, they organized their first Youth and Family Encounter in the Intercontinental Hotel of Sydney from July 13-14.  The theme was “Witnesses… until the ends of the earth!” There are currently 200 Regnum Christi members in Australia and New Zealand.

The speakers at the YFE included Fr John Flynn, LC, who writes for ZENIT and who spoke on the challenge of being a witness of faith in today’s world; Fr Anthony Bannon, LC,

	Fr Rodrigo Hurtado, LC, with one of the participants.

who was present for the first steps of the foundation in Australia; Jonathan and Karen Doyle, Catholic educators who live in Canberra and who work in Choicez Media, a widespread sexual education program based on human values; and Chris Meney, director of the Office for Marriage and Family in the Archdiocese of Sydney. The Encounter also included a rally for youth and a bioethics seminar.

Daniel diSilva, from the Catholic music group Crispin, of the States, and the Australian singer Gary Pinto, who wrote the official anthem of the World Youth Day (“Receive the Power”) gave a concert during the Encounter.


Conventions and Missions

Before the YFE and World Youth Day, Regnum Christi members had also organized two conventions, missions, and a youth rally.

For the missions, a total of 34 Regnum Christi young women from France, Mexico, the US, and Canada hit the streets of Sydney to promote World Youth Day. They collected prayer intentions and invited people to come back to the sacraments and attend the closing Mass with the Holy Father at Randwick Racecourse. They also helped pack 36,000 lunches for the closing Mass, did a “scavangelizer”

	Some Regnum Christi members from various countries with Fathers Rodrigo Hurtado and Dominic Pham, LC.

(a scavenger hunt with evangelization opportunities) in downtown Sydney, and passed out pamphlets for the Friday Stations of the Cross.

The lives of the young missionaries were also changed by the mission.

 “Christ really touched my heart,” said Mary Linz, who attended the missions. “I have been giving so many excuses and he broke down my barriers.”

Peter Fagan, a participant from Denver, said: “The energy with which the youth of the world conquered Sydney was contagious. It’s never been so easy to share Christ with the people who need him. After these two weeks of joy and reflection, I’ve regained the interior peace of God’s grace that I had lost. I truly feel that my faith is my life and that my relationship with God is above everything else.”

The next World Youth Day is in Madrid, 2011. See you there!