Sydney, Australia, Dec 11, 2017 / 17:10 pm
The Church in Australia kicked off Advent with a Catholic Youth Festival in Sydney last weekend, drawing some 20,000 attendees and including the country's largest Mass since the World Youth Day in 2008.
The event was also the opening of a "Year of Youth" meant to "open new horizons for spreading joy for the young Church and our communities."
Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney said that "our culture has messed up about life and love, justice and mercy," at the festival's Dec. 9 Mass, citing political challenges such as the recent legalization of voluntary euthanasia in Victoria.
"If ever we need new John the Baptists to call to people to repent and to believe, to offer some really good news amidst all the bad and to point people to Christ, it's right now."