2006

Tuesday 4th April 2006
Lake Macquarie teacher represents diocese in Rome this week
Booragul teacher, Mr Luke Edwards, is part of an Australian delegation of 60 young people travelling to Rome this week to attend a ceremony marking the beginning of Sydney's 2008 World Youth Day celebrations.

The delegation will participate with Pope Benedict XVI in Palm Sunday Mass in Rome, where it will accept the World Youth Day Cross and Icon from the youth of Germany. The last World Youth Day was held in Cologne in 2005, with a participating audience of close to half a million people.

As the major symbol of World Youth Day, the 3.8 metre wooden cross will be brought to Catholic dioceses throughout Australia in the lead up to Sydney's World Youth Day celebrations.

Mr Luke Edwards, member of the Toronto Catholic parish and Ministry Co-ordinator at St Paul's High School Booragul, has been selected as the representative from the Maitland-Newcastle diocesan community. The delegation leaves this Thursday, 6 April, and will spend 12 days in Europe during Holy Week and Easter.

Mr Edwards said he is looking forward to the journey. "It's a fantastic opportunity and I'm extremely excited about what lies ahead. I feel very grateful to be a part of this tremendous occasion. It's a great honour to be selected to represent the diocese."

Mrs Teresa Brierley, Diocesan Vice Chancellor Pastoral Ministries, said that Mr Edwards was selected because of his long-term involvement with the diocese, particularly in the area of Catholic secondary school education.

"Luke is an impressive young person. He is a member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council (a consultative body which meets regularly with Bishop Michael Malone) and has been teaching within the Catholic Schools system for ten years. He will be an excellent ambassador for the diocese and Australia."

World Youth Day will be held from 15-20 July 2008, providing the forum for the inaugural visit to Australia of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

World Youth Day is an initiative of the late Pope John Paul II. It is a celebration for youth and with youth, gathering many thousands of young people from around the world to build bridges of friendship and hope between continents, peoples and cultures.

Information on World Youth Day Sydney 2008 can be found on www.wyd2008.org

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