KEY POINTS:
CANBERRA - They may be one of the most irreligious mobs in the world, but Australians are preparing to greet Pope Benedict XVI by the tens of thousands next week.
Travelling by helicopter and Popemobile after a three-day break at a private retreat run by Catholic organisation Opus Dei on the northwestern fringes of Sydney, the Pope will lead a massive week-long celebration of youth in the city.
With more than 120,000 foreign "pilgrims" joining at least 100,000 Australians, World Youth Day will be the nation's biggest event.
Among the crowds will be 4000 New Zealanders, including Clare Dooley, director of the Catholic Youth Ministry in Christchurch, who will be among a group of young people selected to join the Pope for lunch.
And even with a new survey showing Australia as the fourth most godless nation on Earth after Russia, France, Germany and Britain, as many as 500,000 are expected to jam the Pope's closing Mass at Randwick, an icon of another great Australian religion - horse racing.
"Christianity and Catholicism in Australia are not blossoming, but equally are not in danger of losing their core roots," foundation religious project leader Martin Rieger said.
In fact, while Christianity as a whole took a 4 per cent hit between 2001 and the last census in 2006, Catholicism cemented its place as the largest single denomination of any faith by increasing its numbers by 2.5 per cent to more than 5 million. World Youth Day, launched by Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1986, has been held every two or three years in countries around the globe but never in such a remote, or numerically small, outpost of Catholicism.
The Federal and New South Wales governments have earmarked A$160 million ($200 million) for the event, much of it for security, but also including complex traffic, transport and other arrangements, and for work on the venues.
Organisers have also been embroiled in financial tiffs with the state government, endured protests by affected residents and braced themselves for wider anger over massive traffic disruption, including the closure of the Harbour Bridge to allow a mass walk across it. The leading anti-papal alliance, NoToPope, has recently gained broader support from civil libertarians after the state Government passed special laws allowing the arrest of anyone "annoying" pilgrims.
And yesterday the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union announced a 24-hour strike for Thursday next week, when as many as 400,000 pilgrims and Sydneysiders are expected to pack the central business district for the Pope's motorcade. The strike has nothing to do with World Youth Day or the Pope, instead protesting a 2.5 per cent cap on public service pay increases, but has been timed for maximum effect.
But World Youth Day is expected to rise above the furore.
Sydney Cardinal George Pell told ABC radio polling had shown that Sydneysiders and Australians in general were overwhelmingly in favour of the event, with only about 10 per cent strongly opposed.
Pell also indicated that one of the highlights could be an apology by the Pope for sexual abuse suffered at the hands of the church. "He handled [an apology] very well in the United States and I anticipate he'll do the same here."
Key events are already under way.
The 15-day walk of the 3.8m World Youth Day Cross, Icon of Our Lady and an indigenous message stick continues this week through Sydney. The remains of Blessed Pier Giorgio are resting at St Benedict's Church at Notre Dame University. On Thursday the coffin will be moved to St Mary's Cathedral.
Throughout Sydney, the celebration will include more than 450 free concerts, art exhibitions and forums, with public debates on subjects ranging from creation, sex, human trafficking and mental health to the environment and women's issues. National and ethnic groups will also hold their own gatherings, with a New Zealand meeting on Wednesday next week.
