WYD HomeStay
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
25 Nov 2007
In less than nine months, Sydney will welcome 140,000 young overseas Catholics for World Youth Day. At least another 60,000 will visit from interstate.
How will Sydney cope with an influx of more than 200,000 visitors in one week? Where will they all sleep?
Around 100,000 pilgrims will sleep in simple accommodation - basically, on the floor in church halls and schools.
Up to 60,000 will make their own arrangements - staying with friends and relatives or in hotels and backpacker accommodation.
The remaining 40,000 we hope to accommodate under our HomeStay program. For this to happen we need about 20,000 big-hearted Sydneysiders to open their homes to pilgrims for one week.
Already, Sydney’s ethnic communities have rallied to accommodate young people from their homelands. Members of Catholic parishes across Sydney have signed up too.
Volunteers played a critical role in making the 2000 Olympic Games such a success. Visitors to Sydney were greeted each day by almost 47,000 locals who gave up their time to be part of an historical event.
The warmth and enthusiasm generated by the Olympic volunteers is still remembered, and seven years later, the afterglow has not diminished.
The volunteers at the Sydney Games showed what great hosts Australians are. We have another chance to do this again with World Youth Day.
Volunteers are already playing a big part in the World Youth Day preparations, with young people from around the world already at work to make the biggest event in Australia’s history also its most successful.
Volunteers are also needed to take in a pilgrim or two during the week of World Youth Day.
Families in previous World Youth Day host cities report great experiences from being involved in HomeStay programs. And the welcome the young pilgrims received from their host families is one of highlights of their World Youth Day experience.
This is the 10th time young Catholics from around the world will pack their bags and make a pilgrimage to another nation to share and deepen their faith with each other. World Youth Day has become the largest youth event in the world.
Of course, there will be significant economic benefits from this tourism boom in July, which is normally a slow time for overseas visits.
There will also be valuable social and spiritual benefits that, like the economic benefits, will enrich all Australians and not just the Catholic community.
Renewing the faith of young people is one of the most important ways of ensuring that the values that make Australia what it is are passed on to the next generation. This is not something that can be taken for granted.
World Youth Day also builds bridges of friendship and understanding between people, faiths and nations. Sydneysiders who volunteer as HomeStay hosts will play an important part in building these bridges.
To take part visit www.wyd2008.org/homestay.
