On Monday the liturgy team made a site visit to Barangaroo, the location of the opening Mass on July 15, the papal arrival via boat on July 17 and also a major site for the youth festival activities each afternoon/evening. (It was a glorious day down there, warm with clear skies and a slight breeze, the exact weather we are praying for during the week). Barangaroo has been known for many years as wharf 8, a working port, but those days are now over and it is earmarked to be transformed into residential and commercial property. Providentially for WYD we get to use the site in the interim…and what an amazing site it is, the long property sits right on the harbour with very close views of the harbour bridge behind it. It will look spectacular when 150000 young people crowd in to greet the Holy Father (where will you be?)
Last time I was down there was months ago when the wharfing sheds were still standing but now not only are they gone but the actual ‘pods’ in which the pilgrims will be arranged have been marked out with low fencing. Our purpose was to simply see the site and walk it from end to end to gauge an idea of the size of the place (it is as you can see, rather long, taking over 10 minutes to walk from the north end to the south end).
My interest was most certainly to start thinking about the way in which we will distribute Holy Communion to the pilgrims at the opening Mass. I mean we have known for a long time how we will basically do it but when you are actually on site it really helps to get a feel for what will work the best.
The major building happening on the site at the moment is the building of toilets…yes that’s right…toilets! I thought that you’d start with the whole stage area but I am told that will take very little time and the most time consuming part is the facilities to make the site meet health department standards (good thing I’m not in charge of the project). And these are not your standard port-a-loos but purpose built structures, what will be rows and rows of them, built in specific lines from the altar so as not to block any lines of sight…all very clever really!
After we had walked the site and were back in the stage/sanctuary area discussing various things we had a nice surprise and saw the Sydney 2000 sail past so I snapped a photo for you. And what is the Sydney 2000 you ask? That is the boat in which the Holy Father will be travelling down the harbour in as he approaches Barangaroo for the Papal welcome. Now if you are not registering to be at WYD as a pilgrim you and your family should certainly be lining the shores Thursday afternoon for what will be a spectacular day on the water!
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