Last July 12, the newspaper Philippine Star published the name of two Augustinian Recollect Friars who are leading one of the youth groups representing the Philippines. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines shows great satisfaction that there are many Filipino youths present in this encounter with the Pope.
In fact, the Philippines is the ninth country with the most number of delegates in Australia (2,500) and the only Asian country in the top ten, taking into account that, in this youth encounter, there are around half a million participants from 170 countries.
Australia, as the host country, has the most number of participants (100,000), followed by the United States (15,500), Italy (10,000), Germany (6,000), France (5,000), New Zealand (4,200) , Spain (3,500), Canada (3,000) and Philippines (2,500) with representatives from the Recollect Augustinian Youth.
Welcome Address of Benedict XVI
During the welcome ceremony, the Pope addressed the youth in Sydney:
“Dear friends, life is not governed by chance; it is not random. Your very existence has been willed by God, blessed and given a purpose (cf. Gen 1:28)! Life is not just a succession of events or experiences, helpful though many of them are. It is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this – in truth, in goodness, and in beauty – that we find happiness and joy. Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.
My dear friends, God’s creation is one and it is good. The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God himself and thus inviolable. Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises. Our hearts and minds are yearning for a vision of life where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. This is the work of the Holy Spirit! This is the hope held out by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to bear witness to this reality that you were created anew at Baptism and strengthened through the gifts of the Spirit at Confirmation. Let this be the message that you bring from Sydney to the world!