Across the Tasman, there are two events to report related to the Catholic World Youth Day extravaganza. One is that Brisbane’s progressive communities are planning their own protests against the papal visit, along with other Brisbane area progressive groups. The march is intended to start on Brisbane’s Queen Street today at 1.00 PM and will include members of that city’s LGBT, pro-choice, aboriginal land rights, and clergy paedophilia survivor communities. Times have changed, haven’t they? Once upon a time, it would have been illegal to hold such a march in Brisbane, under the corrupt far right Bjelke-Petersen regime in that state. Now, ...

:: Pilgrim Report - Sydney Alive ::Right in the middle of the World Youth Day 2008 excitement in Sydney, Australia - DREADPILGRIM Greg writes:Hello again, DREADNOUGHT!...I just wanted to fill you in on my reactions/reflections from the last two days. Yesterday (Tuesday) was a day packed full of God's providential workings for myself and my fellow pilgrims. We began the day making our pilgrimage to St. Mary's Cathedral. The building itself was beautiful to behold, but its contents were surprisingly more so. After entering the Church and genuflecting before the Source of Beauty Himself, we were able ...

Across the Tasman, Catholic World Youth Day is hogging an inordinate amount of media time. Despite the hype, there are some strains starting to show through the devotional ecstacy and euphoria, however. Case 1: The No to Pope Coalition won an ambivalent ‘victory’ in the Federal Court of Australia. Two NPC activists, Amber Pike and Rachel Evans, won an appeal over the wording of the draconian attack on civil liberties and free speech imposed within Sydney over the duration of World Youth Day and attendant celebrations this month. On the one hand, the Federal Court ruled that the state legislation’s ‘annoyance ...

This law sounds like something Dubbya would impose when he or Darth Cheney come to town.Aussie Gays Win Pope Protest Battle(Sydney, Australia) A court struck down a new law Tuesday that banned people from annoying participants of a Roman Catholic youth festival in Australia that the pope plans to attend, ruling that the law restricted free speech.The ruling handed down on the opening day of the six-day World Youth Day festival paves the way for activists to hand out condoms and coat hangers - symbolizing abortions - to pilgrims in a demonstration planned for Saturday.Three federal court judges ...

:: In Your Presence We Delight, We Will Follow ::"To the ends of the earth!"*World Youth Day 2008 has officially started, and DREADNOUGHTERS from all over the world (but especially, from North America) have converged on Sydney to meet with Christ, and the Holy Father.:: Lord, We Need Your Power ::DREADNOUGHT can report that the feeling in Australia is generally exaltant, and beyond that (for young Catholics), near ecstatic. Catholic ideas, young hope, and Papal messages are discussed on buses and trains, debated in countless homes, and featured on every major news network. Sydney is Pope-City, and ...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife I am being stalked by nuns.  It is Catholic World Youth Day in Sydney next week and the Pope will be coming to town, thus Sydney is starting to fill up with Catholic pilgrims from around the world including lots of nuns.  In a city where it is rare to see a nun to now seeing them everywhere is very strange.  It feels like I have stepped into a parallel Catholic world.  But there is one group of nuns who I swear are stalking me.  They are a group of young nuns ...

:: Update ::DREADNOUGHT's answer to the question: "what makes this pope worth listening to?" will be published in The Sunday Telegraph tomorrow. The article accompanies a special World Youth Day 2008 section, with in-depth coverage.:: The Upshot ::The Daily Telegraph is the largest circulation newspaper in Sydney. Buy a copy, welcome Pope Benedict XVI, and celebrate World Youth Day 2008. (A link will be posted here when the article goes live).(C) 2007 John Heard, All Rights Reserved. ...

:: Update ::DREADNOUGHT will be a featured guest on the Triple J radio network this Thursday night. The interview will air as part of the Hack news program.:: What Does the Pope Teach? ::DREADNOUGHT will speak about Catholic teaching on human sexuality, and my response (as a same sex attracted Catholic male) to Pope Benedict XVI's statements on homosexual acts. To that end, these topics will likely come up:- Key teachings from the Catechism - on the acts / person distinction - or how "homosexual acts" are "intrinsically disordered" / and the "inclination" to "homosexual acts" is objectively ...

On the eve of the already controversial World Youth Day commemoration in mid-July, Catholic Cardinal George Pell has been in the news over the revival of old allegations about an historical incident of same-sex sexual violence against one of his former priests, while Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne in the early eighties. Pell does have a masters degree in education from Monash University, but his other qualifications seem to be in theology and church history. During his career, he has served as auxiliary bishop, bishop and then archbishop of the Catholic Archdioceses of Melbourne and Sydney. As well as that, he’s held ...

Pope Benedict XVI won’t be well-received by Syndey’s gays this Sunday, when same-sex loving activists plan on protesting his “right wing” propaganda. Little Benny’s in Australia for World Youth Day, a perfect place for a Catholic leader. [The Age] ...

:: Update ::DREADNOUGHT has been selected by New York Times editors as an influential, monitored publication in relation to the topic: Pope Benedict XVI. NYTimes.com, July 7, 2008.:: Blogrunner ::From the New York Times:"Blogrunner automatically monitors news articles and blog posts and tracks news events as they develop across the Web. Blogrunner alerts you to topics that are frequently linked to and commented upon. The publications tracked by Blogrunner are chosen by New York Times editors...The ranking of a news story on Blogrunner is determined by its popularity on the web. This ranking is determined ...

:: The Gasp ::Something has been made, in the secular media, of the fact that a Sydney priest has criticized the cost, and lamented the "restorationist" nature of World Youth Day 2008. While it seems very impressive that a priest would cite social justice to back up his criticism of the event, the priest in question is not unknown to DREADNOUGHTERS. Indeed, in light of his previous actions, good people must ask themselves whether or not Father Confeggi might be informed in his criticism by other, less edifying motives - and less noble allegiances.:: The Truth ::For the priest ...