Cardinal Pell Greeting to the Holy Father-900 years before there was a king of England there was a Pope in Rome".

I am catching up on my reading of the Pope's day Australia. The Ratzinger Forum has a slew of articles and great photos and I am waiting to see if some Italian article will be translated before posting the list. However what is available (and it is a lot) is already on this page going into page 10 of the WYD forum I must say I share something with the Pope's Personal Secretary. I thought this was pretty funny recalling the environment of Australia. From the article Shining his light on Super Thursday by the Sydney Morning Herald(It is right below the photo of the Pope at night in the Pope Mobile

The Pope appeared to observe the entire celebration with gusto and seemed to relax. His private secretary, Georg Ganswein, known to the Italian press as "Don Giorgio" or "Gorgeous George" quietly relieved the Pope of gifts from the pilgrims. And he too smiled broadly even letting out a loud belly laugh when Cardinal Pell - evoking a skerrick of Australia's sectarian history - reminded his audience that "900 years before there was a king of England there was a Pope in Rome".

The full greeting was quite dramatic as reported by the National Catholic Reporte by Tim Drake at the NCR blog


As far as Papal welcomes, Sydney's Harbour welcome of Pope Benedict XVI, followed by his address at Barangaroo to the youth, and his motorcade through Sydney, it was by far one of the most impressive welcomes of the Holy Father I've ever witnessed. Sydneysiders were invited to greet the Pope in their boats. The scene - with the Pope travelling in Captain Cook Cruises Sydney 2000, led by the Ted Noffs Sydney Ports Corporation Emergency Response Fire Tug with its water display, and followed by all of the other boats and yachts made for quite a memorable scene as the Pope arrived at Barangaroo.

The Pope was received warmly by the youth, who broke into their usual chants of "Be-ne-detto," and "Viva il Papa," but I would say that the overall feeling among the youth was somewhat subdued compared with the response in Cologne or Toronto. Among pilgrims I spoke to, many admitted that it was hard to hear the Holy Father because he is so soft-spoken. I did, however, see pilgrims who were moved to tears just to see him up close. The motorcade was also extremely impressive. People lined the streets of Sydney, filling parking garages and other spaces to catch a glimpse of him as the motorcade wound its way through Sydney, the Opera House, the Domain, and elsewhere.

Cardinal Pell's welcome for Pope Benedict XVI Cardinal Pell gave a rather stirring and triumphal welcome to the Holy Father this afternoon. "...we welcome you as the successor of St. Peter, the man of rock on whom Jesus founded the Church. In loyalty and prayer we welcome you as Pope and bishop of Rome," said Cardinal Pell. "The papacy is ancient. Not as ancient as our aboriginal peoples who lived on this harsh continent for tens of thousands of years even before the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ... But more than 900 years before there was a King of England there was a Pope in Rome. St. Peter was leading the small persecuted Christian community in Rome more than 1700 years before European settlement on the East Coast here." He drew a loud cheer from the youth gathered at Barangaroo when he said, "As Pope you follow in the footsteps of your beloved predecessor Pope John Paul the Great, who founded the World Youth Day tradition and visited us twice in Australia. We remember him with great admiration and love."