PHOTO: CNS/LOSSERVATORE ROMANO

As the sun set on a beautiful day over Sydney Harbour, the above words were spoken by Pope Benedict XVI at his official arrival at the World Youth Day 2008 celebrations. As one among hundreds of thousands of young people that filled the city streets and the harbour-side venue of Barangaroo, I finally began to truly understand what it means to be part of the Universal Church.

Earlier we had all stood watching the large television screens as the Pope was welcomed by Indigenous dance and ceremony and then boarded the ‘boat-a-cade’ for the journey to welcome the young people who had come for WYD. As the images of the Holy Father appeared on the screen that was just in front of me and thousands of young people around me chanted “Benedetto” and “Viva il Papa”, it began to sink in that I was going to meet him the next day.

When Archbishop Hart called me two months ago to ask if I would like to have lunch with the Pope, I was instantly overwhelmed and excited about being given such a wonderful opportunity to meet the leader of our Church. But it was not until that moment at Barangaroo that I really thought about meeting Pope Benedict XVI the man. As the Pope stood on the front of the boat he looked more genuinely happy than in any other images I had ever seen of him, and I, like many others, began to see a much softer and more ‘human’ side to him.

As the 12 young people gathered in a small room in Cathedral House next to St Mary’ Cathedral, we were a mass of giggles and whispered excitement. Despite the strict security and being told to be quiet we could not quite contain our joy and nerves before the meeting. As we moved into the lunch room and were told that Pope Benedict was on his way downstairs, the room became silent. As he entered the room, he was introduced to each young person. The young people were representatives of all pilgrims at WYD, and came from Nigeria, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Spain, France, Congo, Korea, the US, Brazil and Australia. We sat down to begin the lunch, a few photographs were taken and then the room was closed to only Pope Benedict, Cardinal Pell and we 12 young people.

Before the lunch I had been asked by so many people, “what will you ask him?” or “what issues will you raise with him?” However, as the lunch and discussion began it had the feel of a family lunch and didn’t seem to be the place or the time to raise hard-hitting questions and world issues. I simply allowed the scene and the discussion to surround me and took in as much as I could. The most prominent memory of the lunch for me is of the Pope’s eyes. When anyone at the table spoke he always appeared to give them his undivided attention and looked straight into their eyes. While this might be a well-learnt skill, it is difficult not to feel the enormity of Pope Benedict XVI’s listening intently to what you are saying.

As I left the lunch and headed to Hyde Park to watch the first of the Stations of the Cross, I was once again forced to reflect on the ‘humanness’ of Pope Benedict. He is a world leader, the head of our Catholic Church and yet this meeting showed me that he is also a man who likes orange juice, doesn’t eat his greens, laughs easily and is gentle and softly spoken.

I have heard some comment that this WYD has shown that Pope Benedict is now the Pastor of the Church. He is an educated man with a great intellect, but this is now matched by his open and visible joy and care for the all those in the Church, both young and old. At WYD the young people of the Church were able to see the softer and more ‘human’ aspects of Pope Benedict XVI shine.