Archbishop invites youths to join him on Australia trip

Archbishop Paul Cremona has invited young people to join him on a trip to Australia next year to celebrate World Youth Day.

The two-week trip will also give the new Archbishop the opportunity to meet the Maltese communities in Sydney and Melbourne.

He will meet up with the 56 Maltese priests and other religious in Australia. Maltese priests in Australia make up the largest number of foreign priests. Addressing a press conference yesterday, Mgr Cremona called on young people to consider going to Australia in July next year and join forces with youths from all over the world in the celebrations.

Every three years the Pope invites young people to join him to come together in a particular city to celebrate World Youth Day. The last pilgrimage - which was the first for Pope Benedict - was held in Cologne, Germany, in 2005.

The director of the Youth Diocesan Commission, Fr Savio Vella, said about 600 Maltese had travelled to Germany for World Youth Day, adding that this event always had a high attendance by the Maltese.

He said the commission was hoping that about 300 will go to Australia next year, adding that APS Bank will be launching a special account to help youths save for the trip and Emirates will be announcing a special package later on.

Fr Vella said the young people will be hosted by Maltese families. Maltese communities in Australia are already trying to raise funds with which to organise activities during the month-long visit, he said.

Official records show that almost 90,000 Maltese people migrated to Australia between 1946 and 1989, Emigrants Commission founder Mgr Philip Calleja said. As many got married and had children in Australia, the number of people of Maltese descent had gone up to about 112,000, he said.

Mgr Cremona will be the third archbishop to visit the Maltese community in Australia: Archbishop Michael Gonzi visited in 1953 and Archbishop Joseph Mercieca went there in 1987.

As part of the activities for this year's World Youth Day, a live concert for over 16-year-olds will be held in St Julians, on Saturday.