Palau pilgrims off to World Youth Day

There are at least 35 pilgrims from Palau which will attend the WYD for the first time.The Palau pilgrims will also take part in the Papal Voyage while in Sydney.Pope Benedict will travel by boat and two from Palau will be riding in the boat with the pope with other selected pilgrims around the world.Benedict Kintaro, an 18-year old , 11th grader at Emmaus High School will be one of the two youngster joining the papal voyage.Palau representatives will carry the flag during the papal voyage.The event will be from July 15 to 20 and Austral is the host city for the 23rd  WYD and that up to 225,000 registered pilgrims are expected to take part in the event.The week will culminate in a final mass celebrated by the Pope on the last day.Father Rusk Saburo, led the pilgrims from Palau.The Palau Catholic Youth actively raised funds for the trip.WYD was established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 as an annual event to reach out to the youth of the world.He saw it as a way to reach out to the next generation of Catholics to demonstrate confidence them.