A couple of items sent my way.

As you know, World Youth Day is coming up next summer in Sydney. A couple of weeks ago, the event’s official hymn was announced:

The theme song for World Youth Day 2008 was written by singer/songwriter Guy Sebastian, the winner of the first Australian Idol contest in 2003.

"Receive the Power" was written by Sebastian, who will also perform the song at the World Youth Day in July 2008.

In choosing the song, the World Youth Day coordinator, Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher, said that "we wanted a song that was stirring and uplifting."

He added: "The … theme had to measure up thematically and be an anthem — yet be easily sung by people of all language backgrounds.

"Above all, it had to engage young people and capture the theme of World Youth Day 2008 — namely, that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses."

Bishop Fisher remarked that when the World Youth Day organizers heard "Receive the Power," they knew that they had found their anthem: "To put it simply, ‘Receive the Power’ hit the mark."

The 47-year-old bishop added that Sebastian "knew we needed a song that would inspire the young people of the world to take up Christ’s challenge to go to the ends of the earth and be his witnesses; for many people in the Northern Hemisphere, Australia is the ends of the earth!"

A demo recording was delivered to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Vatican dicastery overseeing the youth day preparations, which granted its approval and support during Bishop Fisher’s visit to Rome in April.

Bishop Fisher affirmed, "We are confident ‘Receive the Power’ will rally young Catholics of all backgrounds to World Youth Day in 2008."

Since winning the Australian Idol title, Sebastian has since released three top-five albums and seven top-20 singles, including three that rose to the top of the charts.

And the days since the announcement, however, interest in Sebastian has been piqued because of what he said in this interview:

There was a mini-debate about you saying you had a lot of gay friends and so were offended by the word "faggot", but that homosexuality surely clashes with your Christian beliefs?

That’s the sad side of Christianity. That’s not how it’s meant to be. I’ve been to gay clubs heaps of times. That’s the old fundamentalist way of thinking that’s unfortunately spread through all these generations. They miss the whole point of Christianity which is love. God loves people whether they are black, white, gay, straight, bisexual, whatever. As a Christian, we’re never going to get close to being sinless or perfect, and I’m no better than anybody on this earth, but our No.1 goal is to be as loving as we can. We aim to be like God, so for me, I think that’s a really ugly side of when people get lost in religion. It’s funny, Shannon (Noll) gets called that, Anthony (Callea), all my friends in the industry. That’s the word everyone picks — as soon as you’re in the industry you’re gay.

You’re not anti gay marriage? 

I’m not really anti anything. If you’re a gay couple why not? I don’t really have a stance because I don’t know what it’s like to be told you’re not allowed to marry somebody. That doesn’t seem fair to me.

Note that Sebastian isn’t Catholic – he and his family are members of a big Assemblies of God mega-church.

So. What’s the problem? Can’t argue with God’s love for absolutely everyone and the understanding that we all stand together as sinners, hoping for salvation and the reprehensibility of name-calling. The problem is not the personal integrity or even opinions of those who create art (insert requisite Carvaggio reference here. As well as any of the rest of us, naturally.) In the times in which we live, communication is instant, and perceptions are formed – instantly.  Wouldn’t it have been great, for example, for WYD to work hard to find a Catholic composer who’s penned a great song, instead of going the celebrity route? To symbolize some support of Catholics pursuing vocations in arts and entertainment, rather than sending the message, implicitly, that we just don’t have it in us? And the problems with a non-Catholic forward and center during this event, who doesn’t share our faith –  in the Eucharist (which is always so central to WYD) or, in some cases, apparently, moral issues – well, the issue isn’t inclusivity. This isn’t a Festival of Christian Faiths. It’s a Catholic event.  The issue is…is the best we can do as part of modeling our ideal so model life as a Catholic for our Catholic young adults? We’ll file it under "Missed Opportunities." Although if this experience exposes Sebastian to the presence of Jesus in the Catholic Church..maybe not a missed opportunity. But it’s easy to see how the media will play this. And it won’t be good. It will be more "fundamentalist institution" v. "love of Jesus" business.

Secondly, on a more intellectual plane, a tussel over tenure at St. Thomas Unrecounted at Sheila Liaugminas’ blog.