Registration for World Youth Day ’08 in Sydney opens today – 500 days before the event begins. Some notes:

I suppose because it was nifty in Cologne, the Pope will make his entrance by boat:

The auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Mons. Anthony Fisher, told korazym that Pope Benedict XVI will disembark at the port of Sydney from a boat to be greeted by by many other boats with youth representatives from all participating nations.

Fisher thinks that the Opening Mass will be held in the port area on Tuesday, July 15, while the Pope will arrive on Thursday, July 17.

Generally, he said, the participants would have catechetical lessons in the mornings at their respective lodging areas, and come to the city centerin the afternoons and evenings for the festivities.

Friday, July 18, will feature the Way of the Cross, which will traverse the city, stopping at its most important points, such as the Cathedral, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Saturday will be the vigil for the Closing Mass. Participants will undertake the pilgrimage to the Mass site to Randwick, the suburb where it will be held. For this purpose, Sydney Harbor Bridge will be closed to motor traffic for the exclusive use of the pilgrims trekking to Randwick.

And..some elders and disabled are helping out:

The patrons of the Men’s Shed at the Mary MacKillop Outreach in Lewisham, a wood-working workshop for men, are making 500,000 mini-crosses for the lead-up to the international Catholic youth pilgrimage in 2008.

The mini-crosses will be distributed during the cross-country tour of the WYD Cross, which begins in July.

Cora Velasquez, who works alongside her husband, Sim, told The Sydney Morning Herald that each cross is a prayer. Sim Velasquez used to be a financial controller. A stroke two years ago left him unable to speak and with almost no use of his left arm.

Since starting on the project, Cora said, her husband has regained some control of his left hand, has become more alert and responsive, and feels valued again— an answer to her prayers, says Cora. The project has also strengthened their faith. The couple visits the St. Mary’s Cathedral every day before heading home.

Martin James, who also suffered a stroke, glued together the first cross, which will be given to Pope Benedict XVI.

Organizers could have opted for a cheaper way of making these crosses, “but this is not what World Youth Day is all about," said Alice Priest, the co-ordinator of the WYD Cross in Australia. "The whole process is … a powerful witness to what the cross stands for: the cross is about transformation and resurrection,” she told the Herald.