Pope Benedict XVI will be in Australia from July 12 to 21 on the occasion of the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day in Sydney, the Vatican announced on Wednesday.The 81-year-old pontiff will make his first visit to Australia as pontiff to take part in the July 15-20 event designed to bring young people from around the world together to learn about the Catholic faith.
The Vatican gave no further details of the trip.
Organisers in Sydney say they expect 125,000 international visitors to come to Australia's largest city.
The pope will cruise Sydney's famous harbour as part of his official welcome, they said last month.
The planned visit has sparked complaints over the costs involved after it was revealed that taxpayers would contribute 86 million Australian dollars (51.7 million euros, 80.4 million US dollars) towards the event.
New South Wales Premier Morris Lemma defended spending taxpayer money, saying it would showcase Sydney to a global audience while generating 150 million dollars in revenue.
Catholics make up about a quarter of Australia's population of 21 million.
The first World Youth Day was held in Rome in 1986 and is now held in an international host city every two to three years.
The last was in Cologne, Germany in 2005, a few months after Benedict's election as pope.
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