1st Australians to Celebrate Youth Day

Mixed-up Messages From Media
By Catherine Smibert

SYDNEY, Australia, APRIL 17, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The unique traditions of the Australian Aboriginal people will be on show for the World Youth Day pilgrims and Benedict XVI when they arrive in Sydney this July.

Indigenous themes, symbols and displays will permeate World Youth Day events in honor and recognition of the original inhabitants of the Australian land, and will serve to present the culture to the young pilgrims.

Such was the lineup as presented in an official and colorful sneak peak today at the youth day offices in Sydney.

Among the presenters of the design and itinerary coordination were directing members of a 17-person Indigenous Communities Advisory Committee.

The committee, comprised of representatives from across the land, was established in early 2006 with the specific purpose to guide the indigenous elements of World Youth Day '08 and to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to come to Sydney for the event.

Committee chairman, Bishop Christopher Saunders, said the lineup would "allow our visitors to experience the wonderful culture and history of Australia's Indigenous," and noted the significance of having these delegates being the first to welcome the pilgrims to the shores of Sydney.

Bishop Saunders of Broome is described on his diocesan Web site as being especially "interested in Aboriginal issues and involved with some Aboriginal study groups before becoming a priest."

Since then he has become very close to many indigenous communities and a keen defender of Aboriginal rights in the nation.

He and his team have been working hard with these communities around Australia to try and encapsulate how World Youth Day can suitably welcome the people of this land and how they can in turn welcome the people of the world.

The committee found the answer within a common theme shared by Catholics and indigenous -- reconciliation.

Significant issues over Aboriginal land rights, stolen children and poverty have left a dark blanket throughout the modern history of this nation.

One of the steps toward reconciliation has been the promotion of the use of appropriate indigenous protocols in schools, other education institutes, formal and informal meetings, public meetings and ceremonies.

Two scheduled ceremonies -- titled "Welcome to Country" and "Acknowledging the Traditional Custodians" -- will be key elements for this cultural dialogue and also slots in well to provide the role of a cultural ceremonial welcome that has always been a component at previous international World Youth Days.

Each Aboriginal "Welcome to Country" ceremony, while a formal process, has its own unique flavor.

But along with song, dance and greetings by elders, the executive secretary of the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC), Graeme Mundine, pointed out some of the physical representations through the work of Aboriginal artists.

Gesturing to a stunning indigenous version of the Stations of the Cross, Mundine noted that "the work of this artist, Richard Campbell, have been replicated on to merchandise, so all of our international guests can take some of this great work and a taste of our culture home with them."

Aunty Elsie Heiss, chair of the National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council, reminded those present of the "Indigenous Message Stick as it accompanies the cross and icon in their journey around the nation."

"In the 20-year history of the [World Youth Day] cross," said Heiss, also coordinator of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in Sydney, "this is the first time it has been accompanied by an indigenous message stick.

"And so far has traveled over 80,000 kilometers [49,709 miles] across Australia and taken to some of the most remote indigenous communities including Blatherskite Park where John Paul II addressed indigenous people in 1986 … It's calling all aboriginals to experience the World Youth Day in July in the country of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation."

One young Aboriginal youth day pilgrim, Craig Ashbury, said that he's really proud to be part of this great event: "I feel honored and delighted to showcase our culture to the world. It will really be a great event for all Australians.

"We welcome Pope Benedict, and most importantly, we welcome the world's youth to this great land to celebrate our culture, faith, diversity and Australian identity."

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Vestment "Snub"

As the countdown to the Sydney World Youth Day shrinks, the Australian media are also getting excited.

But the fervor surrounding the imminent event is often negative or sarcastic, and at times completely incorrect.

The most recent example of confused youth day reporting can be found in The Australian national daily newspaper with journalist Sian Powell's April 12 piece titled "Pope Knocks Back Youth Day Vestments."

Powell manages to compose the article without one single formal quote or statement from the Vatican or Benedict XVI to support his opening line, "The Pope has decided he will not wear the vestments especially designed for World Youth Day."

His article continues, "The Pope is known to dislike vestment symbols that are not explicitly Christian. He may, though, wear some variation on the vestment design, a World Youth Day spokeswoman said."

So who is the mysterious youth day spokeswoman?

Powell doesn't name her, and my friends in the World Youth Day office cannot identify her either.

In fact, the authority who should have been asked the clarifying question is the youth day liturgy director, Father Peter Williams, and he was not interviewed by The Weekend Australian's reporter.

So, when I asked Father Williams the question, he exclaimed that he "was amazed to read in the Weekend Australian that the Pope has decided not to wear the vestments designed for World Youth Day this coming July."

Father Williams was able to categorically inform me of the fact that no decision has come from the Holy Father as to what vestments he will personally wear during World Youth Day.

But he notes the likelihood of the Pope choosing "to wear a variation of the chasuble designed for the cardinals and bishops attending World Youth Day -- as he did in World Youth Day 2005."

Father Williams also pointed out, "The vestment design for priests, bishops and cardinals -- including the so-called 'not explicitly Christian' symbols -- has already been approved by the Pontifical Council for the Laity -- who is responsible for World Youth Day -- and also has been shown to the Papal master of ceremonies."

The liturgist described as "a figment of the imagination" what the article called a "snub" on the part of Benedict XVI, which was said to be "the first of many in the clash of cultures between the liturgically and theologically conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the exuberance of the youth day"

World Youth Day communications director, Jim Hanna, added that he had not heard of any difficulties arising from the Pope's conservative preferences.

"I have seen no evidence of controversy brewing about the liturgy," he said.

This article is among a variety of negative slurs by secular Australian press regarding the event that invites young Catholics to come together from every nation to share a faith experience.

To those journalists harping on potential logistical issues to pilgrim numbers, as measures of a successful event, Cardinal George Pell has repeatedly said, "We believe in Australia that we are pretty competent organizers, but in Australia our bigger challenge is for World Youth Day to be a spiritual success and I am confident it will be."