Youth from parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles this week are traveling to Sydney, Australia, for the 23rd World Youth Day which takes place July 15-20.

Some 180 parish youth have registered with the official archdiocesan group, coordinated by Sister of St. Louis Karen Collier. A send-off liturgy and blessing with Cardinal Roger Mahony was celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels June 29.

Sister Collier, who has participated in six previous World Youth Days, said that youth are positively impacted by "the experience of meeting other young Catholics from around the world, young people their age, their peers who are practicing Catholics excited about their faith."

The experience, she added, "makes them excited about life and gives them a broader perspective about what's out there in the world." Inner city youth, she observed, often come back with bigger aspirations about going to college and contributing to the world.

As of press time, information gathered by The Tidings showed that youth from the following archdiocesan parishes are participating in World Youth Day: Blessed Junípero Serra, Camarillo; Holy Name of Jesus, Los Angeles; Incarnation, Glendale; Our Lady of the Assumption, Claremont; Our Lady of Peace, North Hills; St. Agatha, L.A.; St. Brigid, L.A.; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Rowland Heights; St. Louis de Montfort, Santa Maria; St. Louis of France, La Puente; St. Raphael, Goleta; and Juan Diego House (for seminarians), Gardena.

In Sydney, Pope Benedict XVI will greet young people in a welcoming festival July 17. The pontiff's activities include meeting with representatives of other religions; Mass with the bishops of Australia, seminarians and novices; prayer at the beginning of the Stations of the Cross; and Mass for the 23rd World Youth Day July 20 followed by recitation of the Angelus and a speech.

As of late May, about 13,400 U.S. pilgrims had registered for World Youth Day. WYD officials have been saying they expect 225,000 pilgrims to take part in this year's events, including 100,000 Australians. (Local news reports have suggested that the final count may be significantly lower, owing in part to distance and travel expense.)

The largest World Youth Day turnout was 4 million in Manila, Philippines, in 1995. Other big crowds include 2 million in Rome (2000), 1.6 million in Czestochowa, Poland (1991), 1.2 million in Paris (1997), and 1 million in Cologne, Germany (2005).

Guy Sebastian and Paulini, both winners of the Australian Idol TV talent quest, premiered the anthem of World Youth Day 2008, "Receive the Power," before a July 1 crowd of 7,000.

Sebastian, a Pentecostal Christian, co-wrote "Receive the Power" with Gary Pinto at the invitation of the World Youth Day committee. "As a Christian I'm ready to stand up and witness for Our Lord --- anytime," said Sebastian, 25.

He said World Youth Day is "accessible to anybody who wants to come to this gathering and celebrate Christ."

"My faith is my anchor in life," he said, "My singing has always been about glorifying God."

Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, coordinator of World Youth Day who lobbied for the song's acceptance, said "Receive the Power" encapsulates "the pneumatological theme" of World Youth Day 2008 perfectly.

"The song comes from the last words Christ spoke to his disciples before he ascended to the Father and articulates the response of the faithful disciple to Christ's call, 'You will be my witnesses,'" he said.

Besides being "an evocation of the eucharistic Lord," Bishop Fisher said the song also "cleverly recalls and unites the catechetical themes of previous World Youth Day themes, 'Emmanuel' (Rome), 'Light to the World' (Toronto) and 'We Worship You' (Cologne, Germany)."

Catholic News Service contributed to this report.