 At the WYD08 Final Mass in Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Pope Benedict XVI said infront of an estimated 350,000 faithful - the Catholic Church was in need of renewal.
The Pontiff said the events during World Youth Day had provided a wonderful, spiritual experience. "Here in Australia, this 'great south land of the Holy Spirit', all of us have had an unforgettable experience of the spirit's presence and power in the beauty of nature," the Pope said. In his homily, the Pope said the world and the church both needed to take stock of what is important. "In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading," he warned. "An interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair. "How many of our contemporaries have built broken cisterns in desperate search for meaning - the ultimate meaning that only love can give." He said: "The church also needs this renewal. She needs your faith, your idealism and your generosity so that she can always be young in the spirit." The open-air mass marks the culmination of a six-day Catholic youth event that has attracted pilgrims from more than 170 nations. The mass ended with Benedict's announcement of the next host of World Youth Day - Madrid in 2011. This announcement made the Spanish pilgrims in the crowd erupted into a frenzy of singing, chanting, dancing and celebration. See you all at Madrid, Spain.
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