Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday confirmed his plans to travel to Australia in July 2008 for the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day.He said he was looking forward to the trip with a "sense of awe and eager anticipation."
"One year from now we will meet at World Youth Day in Sydney ... For many of us, this will be a long journey," the 80-year-old pontiff said, speaking in English to the several thousand young people attending his weekly public audience in a Vatican auditorium.
The pope encouraged young people to prepare well for the meeting, which he said was a time of "deep spiritual renewal, the fruits of which benefit the whole of society."
Several months after his election as pope in 2005, Benedict attended the last world youth event, held in his native Germany.
He thanked Church and government authorities involved in the 2008 event preparations, noting that "Australia and its people evoke a warm welcome and wondrous beauty."
In a recent meeting at the Vatican, the president of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo renewed an invitation to Benedict to stop over in the Philippines during the trip to Australia.
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