Religion Report

Are problems beginning to show in the events organisation of World Youth Day?

Transcript

This transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot guarantee its complete accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional difficulty in identifying speakers.

Stephen Crittenden: Welcome to the program.

HERMANNSBURG - NTARIA LADIES' CHOIR

Stephen Crittenden: Isn't that fabulous? Here at The Religion Report that's become our unofficial World Youth Day Anthem: the ladies from the Hermannsburg Mission singing a German chorale tune in the language of their own country. I bet Pope Benedict would love it. It's from a much larger orchestral composition by Andrew Schultz and Gordon Kalton Williams called 'Journey to Horseshoe Bend'.

Well we had hoped to bring you a curtain-raiser to World Youth Day on this week's program. But not only has the co-ordinator of World Youth Day, Bishop Anthony Fisher, declined our request for an interview, late yesterday afternoon he also directed Father Peter Williams, the executive secretary of the National Liturgical Commission, not to participate in an interview with us either.

Interesting that World Youth Day is being subsidized by the Australian taxpayer to the tune of $95-million, but the organisers won't speak to the taxpayer-funded national broadcaster.

Which is a pity, because there's a lot to talk about. At the weekend, the organisers announced that they'd found the young man who will play Jesus in the stations of the cross pageant that will be staged as part of World Youth Day.

And there have also been reports lately that haven't been nearly so good.

Last year there was the saga of whether the papal Mass would be staged at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, and in recent weeks there have been reports of a blowout in the costs and a big drop in the number of pilgrims expected from overseas.

Thirty-seven-thousand young people from the United States registered their interest initially, but fewer than 20,000 are expected to actually make the journey now. The Americans are blaming the high airfares. And of course the higher the cost of travel, the more likely that World Youth Day will be a jamboree for rich kids, and the less likely that it will truly reflect the African, Latin American and Asian diversity of the worldwide Catholic church.

This is an enormous problem for the whole World Youth Day idea, and it raises the question of whether World Youth Day '08 may be the last. Certainly the crowds have been getting a bit smaller each time, and Pope Benedict would probably breathe a sigh of relief; he's a more reluctant traveler than his predecessor. Also there's the fact that many Catholic dioceses around the world simply can't afford to be left with a huge bill after everyone goes home, and they don't expect their governments to foot the bill either.

Another issue the organisers don't want to talk about is the weather. In July last year, in the week of World Youth Day, the overnight temperature in Sydney got down as low as 3.7-degrees. Not promising for the 200,000 kids planning an overnight sleepout in the middle of Randwick racecourse.

Most importantly, there's the event management timetable. When Cardinal Pell won his bid to host World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia's experience of planning and hosting major events like the Olympic Games and the Rugby World Cup figured very high.

However, senior figures in the events industry, the sort of people who put these events together, have told The Religion Report on condition of anonymity that the event planning for World Youth Day is seriously behind schedule, and that the organisers only have a matter of days to get personnel, infrastructure and co-ordination plans in place for the four major World Youth Day events.

The archdiocese placed advertisements for a series of people to fill events management roles as recently as 7th February, and it's not clear whether these positions have yet been filled, or whether office space has been found for them.

To add to these woes, the director of Liturgy for the Sydney archdiocese, a Texan priest named Father Tim Deeter, has suddenly left the scene, parting ways with Cardinal Pell at the weekend. Was he sacked, or did he resign? Well it depends on who you talk to, but the timing of his departure just four months before the Pope's arrival, can't help.

SINGING: Spirit-power (international) - composed by Christopher Willcock

Further Information

SMH Sydney man to play Jesus at Youth Day

Who's Paying for World Youth Day?

SMH : The true cost of WYD 2008

Cost of Youth Day blows out to $150m

The Australian: A right royal licence to mint money

World Youth Day to boost Australian economy by $231 million

Catholic Church's World Youth Day comes at a high cost

Youth Day to close Harbour Bridge

Frugal council counts cost of World Youth Day

WYD 2008 Schools to segregate pilgrims by sex

Youth day promises an unholy road mess

Martin named as host of 2008 World Youth Day coverage

Call for full-time envoy to Vatican

Music

CD title: Journey to Horseshoe Bend
Track title: Wachet Auf ( Kaarrerrai worlamparinyai! Jesula nurnanha ntangkama)
Artist: Ntaria Ladies' Choir, Sydney Symphony , Sydney Philharmonia
Composer: Andrew Schiltz/ Gordon Kalton Williams
CD details: ABC 476 2266

CD title: MAGiS Collection
Track title: Spirit-power (international version)
Composer: Christopher Willcock

Presenter

Stephen Crittenden

Producer

Noel Debien