Catholic kids get cross with icon at Bells Beach

Alex de Vos
Eager Catholic youths gathered at Bells Beach yesterday to kiss a World Youth Day cross when it arrived on the Surf Coast.
The 3.8-metre timber cross had travelled around New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Australia in the lead-up to a Catholic youth day celebration at Sydney in July.
World Youth Day Festival’s Belinda White said the Torquay leg featured an early morning surf and a dawn service at Bells.
“The event is really about peace, hope and symbolic unification,” Ms White said.
The cross, a symbol of Jesus Christ, had journeyed throughout the world for every World Youth Day since 1984.
“The cross and icon was a gift to young people from Pope John Paul II in 1984 to unify people across the world,” Ms White said.
“The event will reinforce a positive message of empowerment to young people through celebration of spirituality and an expression of freedom in the modern world.”
Ms White said more than 200,000 pilgrims would gather for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse.
The event would also mark Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to Australia.