THE Pope will spend his first three days in Australia unwinding at a camp run by controversial Catholic organisation Opus Dei. Details of the pontiff's stay come as it emerges World Youth Day organisers have privately urged the Pope to issue an apology to victims of church sex abuse.
Cardinal George Pell yesterday confirmed that the Pope would be taken straight to a semi-rural retreat operated by Opus Dei - made famous in best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code - on Sydney's outskirts after flying to the RAAF air base in Richmond next Sunday.
At the Kenthurst Study Centre, which caters for up to 30 guests, television is banned, but there are tennis, volleyball and basketball courts and a 25m swimming pool.
Opus Dei has about 85,000 members, including 500 in Australia, and has been widely criticised for secrecy and rituals including "mortification", which involves fasting, self-flagellation and the wearing of a spiked chain around the thigh.
However, the Pope's Opus Dei activities will be far less controversial, according to Cardinal Pell.
"(During) his time at the Kenthurst Study Centre, he will be resting from his long flight - which is the furthest he has travelled," Cardinal Pell said.
"He will be partaking in his daily prayers and doing some of the things he enjoys, such as playing the piano."
The pontiff's bedroom will be simple, furnished with a single bed, desk, sofa and a small heater.
The centre resembles a large country home, but has austere decor.
After the Pope's retreat, he will move to Cathedral House in Sydney to stay with Cardinal Pell for the rest of the week.
World Youth Day is being held from July 15-20.
The plea for a church apology to sex victims has been made in a letter compiled by the event's coordinators from the nation's bishops and sent directly to the Vatican.
In a list of suggested "live" issues the Pope could address in his Australian speeches, the bishops called for a historic statement on sexual abuse.
"There were a number of suggestions about the issues the bishops thought the Pope should address," World Youth Day Co-Ordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher said.
"But I think there's a common feeling among church leaders here that he should say something about sexual abuse, as he did during his recent tour of America. The bishops take it very seriously," he said.
"We've had no indication back from the Vatican about this. But if the Pope is going to say something on any issue we will probably be told the same day. He will decide the subjects to talk about.
"But it is obvious that there is wide support for the Pope to make a statement on sexual abuse."
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