57,000 registered so far for WYD 2008 in Sydney

Sydney, Australia, Apr 10, 2007 / 09:55 am

Last March 2nd registration opened for World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.  After a little more than a month, more than 57,000 people have signup to attend the world event which will take place in the Australian capital in July of next year.

“The registration is going well.  Although group registration is still not mandatory, it is a great help to know the number of pilgrims we are going to be welcoming, thus giving us the chance to welcome them better and be more organized,” WYD officials said.

Regarding the transportation system, the organizing committee explained that the Australian government has eliminated the cost of visas and has made the system simple and fast for everyone.

In addition, an initiative called the Pilgrims Cooperation Plan is seeking to send to greatest possible number of young people from Oceania and the Pacific region to WYD Sydney 2008.
 
“There is clear excitement throughout the Pacific region because we are the hosts of this event.  Countries like the Caroline Islands, the Cook Islands, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall, Marianne, Nauru, Salomon, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu have never sent pilgrims to a WYD.  All of these countries will now be able to send young people to Sydney 2008,” said Bishop Anthony Fisher, General Coordinator of WYD 2008.