AUSTRALIA:Thousands of pilgrims converged on Sydney yesterday as the city braced itself for the weekend arrival of Pope Benedict XVI and the start of the World Youth Day festival, the biggest event held in Australia since the 2000 Olympics.
After five years of planning, the massive festival will finally kick off on Tuesday and run through Sunday, attracting more than 200,000 pilgrims to Sydney.
Clusters of nuns and groups of young Catholics have spent the past several days wandering through the city, event organisers have worked frantically to keep up with the ever-expanding flocks of faithful, and Sydney residents have meanwhile steeled themselves for traffic nightmares.
The pope will arrive tomorrow and rest for a few days before leading a series of prayer gatherings and meetings on Thursday. He will then take a boat trip on Sydney Harbour, followed by a welcome ceremony and papal motorcade through downtown.
Tens of thousands are expected to participate in a walking pilgrimage across Sydney's famed Harbour Bridge, which links the north and south portions of the city and offers a sweeping view of the harbour and opera house.
Other events include a re-enactment of the 12 stations of the cross in various parts of the city and a "sleep-out under the stars", during which pilgrims will spend the final night of festivities sleeping outdoors at a racetrack.
The following morning, the event will conclude with a papal Mass, expected to draw hundreds of thousands.
The NoToPope Coalition, made up of gay rights, student and atheist groups, is planning a July 19th march to protest at what it calls the pope's homophobic and antiquated ideas.