YOUR SAY 
Are you taking part in WYD? Post your comments here. World Youth Day brings together Catholics from all over the world against the backdrop of Sydney Harbour. How does it feel to be part of this event?
The week in review: momentous change read more
Election blog: Spin and reality read more
Blog: Where to for Pakistan? read more
Super Bowl blog: Patriots v Giants read more
Road to Beijing: Is that an elephant or a Tibetan antelope in the room? read more
How reassured are you by the government's guarantee on bank deposits?
"Rudd can guarentee loans all he likes, the 4 major banks are already guarenteed by the crown. T..."
Are you worried about the 'global financial crisis'?
"I can't believe that the people of the world let this happen. The official cause for this mess is..."
Who do you think will make the best President of the United States?
"Barack Obama. A vote for him is a vote for change. "
Watch Video
Podcasts
Blogs
ROCHELLE you are missing the point i'm afraid. You can talk up as much as you want about how sin-free you people are But what i'm saying here is THE DOUBLE STANDARDS IS DRIVING ME NUTS. Next time I knock on your door 12 times a year telling you how drinking alcohol is a sin or actually invite a Cleric straight from Sudan while you pay for his fancy city-mobile-tour you might understand!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rob from ACT, Ha. You make me laugh. You have no idea what your talking about, you've just chucked in a couple of dates and fancy words and expected that everyone will think you are a professor in ancient history. I can be absolutely sure in saying that if anyone took the time to ask ANY professor of history in any university in Australia that they would tell you, "there is no doubt whatsoever that the person of Jesus existed and that he was crucified." This is from non-Christian people, so before you post another completely nonsensical comment make sure you know what the hell your talking about.
I'm sorry you feel this way Yousseff. As a pilgim of WYD this year, along with thousands of others, I prayed for IRAQ and for the victims of other atrocities suffered all over the world. Just because Pope Benedict shook George Bush's hand, does not mean that he condones the injustices done to people over the world. The Pope (as his position obviously requires) is a peaceful, forgiving man, whose role is to teach what is the absolute truth and what is right.. and he can best do that in a peaceful way. I love that our Pope is a gentle Pope who seeks to love all people and doesnt govern us Catholics as a dictator. We love him for this. Also, World Youth Day is given this name because it is open to all youth of the world, regardless of their religion or race. It is obviously a catholic event since it is hosted by the Pope and I'm sure most people soon understand this. Why do you end by wishing us "Peace" after you have just admonished a beautiful religious festival which promotes Peace, faith in a God who is loving and forgiving, and goodwill and love for your neighbour, even your enemies. We will continue to pray AND Do Something to help abandoned people of the world! PEACE
Not catholic, but my teenage daughter and i have enjoyed seeing our city with happy, smiling friendly faces.
I'm confused please help!! are we a Secetarian country or not?. Every time an "unfavourable" religion makes progress it is shut down as "we are a secetarian country, if you wanna do this or that go back to your own country and do it there!!" yet I see the donations of all donators (Jews, Muslims or even Athiests) end up as a plate of food presented to a hungry African man that has to kiss the Cross before he is fed. I see tax payers money of non-Catholics go to support a Catholic event given a misleading "non Ctholic" title and I hear my door often being knocked by a bunch of people who are very happy to show me their tunnel of light but when I try to show them my tunnel of light they get sad and mad and are quick to take off!! Can anyone set the rules in black and white cause it seems that the colour grey has chewed my rights away!! I'm confused... One last thing I ask all of those people loving Catholics, if Iraq and Afghanistan were 99% Catholics would you have really stayed silent on more than 1million civillian deaths, more than 5 million refuggee cases and millions of injuries. Your Pope just happened to shake Mr Bush's hand 2 weeks ago. Peace
A warm Sydney Welcome to all pilgrims. May I share this piece of local wisdom with you: http://www.amazing.com.au/peace Travel safe and do return one day. Justin
Good on you SBS for 'balancing' the coverage of WYD with the brothel, condoms and protesters stories. You just highlight how superficial the opposition to WYD really is.
Today in Sydney we are going to see the re-enactment of the last days of Jesus, yet few people stop to ask the question whether this Jesus person ever really existed. Such is the power of the mass hypnosis and the power of suggestion delivered by Christianity. I have heard the word ‘truth’ used over and over again by the Pope and his supporters over the last few days, but it is a basic lie to continue to think that there really was a man called Jesus who fits the description of the of the myth played out by the ‘Stations of the Cross’. Pontius Pilate, a meticulous Roman record keeper, never even mentions Jesus in his lists of public executions. It is also quite well established in the academic world that the Jesus that appears in the Gospels was an invention of Mark, one of the most successful fiction writers of all time. His concept of Jesus would appear to have arisen from three separate sources called Q1, Q2 and Q3 and is an invented character like Harry Potter or Superman. In addition Mark could not have been a disciple and contemporary of Jesus because the Gospel’s were written more than a hundred years after the purported death of ‘the Saviour’. The books written by Paul contradict the existence of a physical Jesus but instead describe a metaphysical Jesus whose crucifixion takes place in a non-material realm. There is historical evidence to support this kind of worship. Paul’s story is similar to the stories of Osiris and Isis and those of many other religious cults at the time whose characters never actually materialize on Earth. What we see today will truly be a ‘cruci-fiction’ and not a crucifixion.
Flew in from Cairns and performed for the Pope. He absolutely enjoyed our performance and I must say he is very nice to give us his attention. We performed for him as he got out of his Pope mobile and before he walked the red carpet up onto the stage on Thursday.
Today in Sydney we are going to see the re-enactment of the last days of Jesus, yet few people stop to ask the question whether this Jesus person ever really existed. Such is the power of the mass hypnosis and the power of suggestion delivered by Christianity. I have heard the word ‘truth’ used over and over again by the Pope and his supporters over the last few days, but it is a basic lie to continue to think that there really was a man called Jesus who fits the description of the of the myth played out by the ‘Stations of the Cross’. Pontius Pilot, a meticulous Roman record keeper, never even mentions Jesus in his lists of public executions. It is also quite well established in the academic world that the Jesus that appears in the Gospels was an invention of Mark, one of the most successful fiction writers of all time. His concept of Jesus would appear to have arisen from three separate sources called Q1, Q2 and Q3 and is an invented character like Harry Potter or Superman. In addition Mark could not have been a disciple and contemporary of Jesus because the Gospel’s were written more than a hundred years after the purported death of ‘the Saviour’. The books written by Paul contradict the existence of a physical Jesus but instead describe a metaphysical Jesus whose crucifixion takes place in a non-material realm. There is historical evidence to support this . Paul’s story is similar to the stories of Osiris and Isis and those of many other religious cults at the time whose characters never actually materialize on Earth. What we see today will truly be a ‘cruci-fiction’ and not a crucifixion.