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PILGRIMS & ATTENDANCE

• 70,000 international pilgrims took part in Days of the Diocese throughout Australia during the week before WYD08
• 150,000 attended the Opening Mass at Barangaroo and CBD sites
• In excess of 400,000 people attended the Final Mass at Southern Cross Precinct
• 500,000 people came out to welcome His Holiness on Thursday 17 July on the Boat-a-cade, Official Arrival at Barangaroo and Motorcade
• 223,000 people registered for pilgrim services during WYD08 (110,000 international pilgrims + 113,000 local pilgrims)
• Over 170 nations were represented at World Youth Day Sydney 2008
• 168 international flags took part in the Procession of Flags at the WYD08 Opening Mass

AUDIENCE

• WYD08 events were watched live by an estimated international TV audience of 500 million, with TV and internet audiences combined reaching 1 billion
• XT3.com, the WYD08 official online social networking site, is expected to attract 225,000 pilgrims as a result of the event
• The World Youth Day website received over 500,000 unique users from Saturday 12 July to Sunday 20th July with the biggest spike in hits occurring Thursday 17th July.
• WYD08 online streaming received over 250,000 visits during the event period, watching events live all around the world
• Top countries watching online streaming included USA, UK, Italy, Canada, Spain and Germany
• There were 2,000 accredited media for WYD08

ACTIVITIES

• 450 Youth Festival events took place during the week from Tuesday to Sunday in over 100 venues
• 30 large national gatherings took place during WYD08
• 134 international pilgrims from 58 countries were part of the International Liturgy Group (ILG), as well as a representative from each Australian State and Territory. The ILG undertook the main duties of the liturgies including readings, offertory procession, altar servers, testimonials, flag bearers.
• In Terrey Hills, more than 350 cardinals and bishops from overseas enjoyed a lunch hosted by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell.
• An average of 2,500 pilgrims walked through the Vocations Expo every hour
• Catechesis was delivered at 235 locations across Sydney in 29 different languages
• The WYD08 Choir consisted of 300 members, the WYD08 Orchestra was an 80 piece orchestra
• 1,000 priests heard confession during the WYD08 week

JOURNEY OF THE CROSS AND ICON

• Once the Journey of the Cross and Icon reached Wollongong for the 15 Day walk, it had travelled nearly 80,000km around Australia
• The Cross and Icon visited over 400 Australian communities during the 12 month pilgrimage around Australia
• Nearly 400,000 people touched the Cross throughout Australia
• The WYD Cross is 3.8m high and 1.75m wide, weighing some 40 kilograms
• The WYD Icon is 118cm high and 79cm wide, weighing some 15 kilogram
• 4,000 pilgrims took part in the final day of the Journey of the Cross and Icon on Monday 14th July when it travelled on a Manly Ferry before being walked through central Sydney

PILGRIM SERVICES

• 6,000 blankets were donated by Qantas to pilgrims from across Oceania
• 37 lucky Burmese pilgrims overcame VISA difficulties to finally make it to Sydney for WYD08
• At the WYD Big Aussie BBQ, 220,000 slices of bread were consumed ? if laid end to end, it would cover the Sydney Harbour Bridge 21 times
• 100,000 pilgrims slept in 400 schools and parishes
• Over 12,000 pilgrims stayed in Sydney Olympic Park throughout the week
• 40,000 were billeted as part of the WYD08 HomeStay program

PAPAL FACTS

• The Pope's flight to Sydney took 19 hours and 45 minutes
• The Pope's flight home will take 21 hours
• From Rome the flight travelled a total distance of 16,500 kilometres
• The Pope will fly back to Rome on a Qantas flight, stopping off Darwin for a brief refuelling
• The Pope sent six daily inspirational text messages
• The Pope met six native Australian animals from Taronga Zoo when in Kenthurst - a wallaby, koala, python, lizard, baby crocodile and an echidna
• 12 lucky young people lunched with the Pope on Friday 18 July. This included Australians Craig Ashby from Sydney and Teresa Wilson from Melbourne
• 24 people were confirmed by the Pope at the Final Mass including 14 young Australians and 10 international young people
• The Pope lunched with 50 current and retired Australian Bishops in St Mary?s Cathedral House
• The Pope kissed four small children during his Motorcades

VOLUNTEERS

• 8,000 WYD08 volunteers assisted during WYD08
• His Holiness held a special event to specifically thank the volunteers at the Domain prior to his departure

CLERGY

• There were 4,000 priests and deacons, 420 Bishops, 26 Cardinals and one Pope present at WYD08
• 500 special WYD08 chasubles for the Bishops and Cardinals were made
• 4,000 stoles were made for the priests
• 1.1 million communion hosts were made for the WYD08 Masses

FOOD

• 25 million food items were ordered for WYD08
• 3.6 million meals were distributed across approximately 400 venues during the week
• 215,000 meat pies, 360,000 lamingtons and 100,000 litres of Dairy Farmers Milk were consumed

SERVICES

• 400,000 people attended the Final Mass at Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park
• 235,000 faithful attended the night time Vigil at Randwick Racecourse.
• Over 200,000 pilgrims camped at Randwick Racecourse overnight in anticipation of the Final Mass
• 232,000 candles were used during WYD08
• 100 actors took part in the Stations of the Cross performance
• 4000 toilets were in use at the Southern Cross Precinct