By Allan Grill, Religious Affairs Writer
Balloons, banners, Solidarity posters and dancing girls greeted Pope Francis when he arrived at Canberra's National Exhibition Center for the Inaugural Mass of his Australian visit.
About 100,00 people packed the vast complex. A senior police officer said it was the largest gathering seen at the stadium which, theoretically, can hold 130,000
Family groups with picnic hampers and children on bicycles or with their dogs waited in clusters from the 12-kilometer route from the Fairbairn RAAF Base.
It was very Australian, and very relaxed. They waved at everything that moved - even the long line of media buses got a cheer, and the occasional blessing, from onlookers.
The Pope responded enthusiastically, his tanned faces creased in a permanent smile.
Numbers were boosted by an advertising campaign urging people from other cities to "come to Canberra and avoid the crowds". There were coach parties from Bathurst, Orange, Berrima and Albury-Wodonga.
Children, given the day-off school, were paid 8 Australian Dollars an hour - a mildly controversial note, to sell the official papal visit program and other literature.
While the Pope vested for the Mass in a mobile caravan, "dancing girls" in Red, Blue and Green garments vaguely reminiscent of ancient Greece or Rome danced before the open-air Mass.
Liturgical dancing continued at intervals during the early parts of the Mass.
Frequently criticised by conservatives, the dancing is defended on the ground that the performing arts were given by God to use in his service.
David "danced before the Lord", and St. Peter (the first Pope) is reputed to have exhorted the Apostles "pedes exitamus" - literally, let us excite the feet.
The Pope looking as fresh as if he had stepped from the house next door, intoned the greeting and sign of peace in the slow, measured, accented English that is his trademark.
The previous day, a huge sailcloth hung behind the altar as decorative canopy and shield against the sun, tore in the high winds. Flapping madly, it was considered dangerous and removed.
As a result, the Pope and the Bishops who celebrated the Mass with him offered the Holy Sacrifice against a bush background, which seemed appropriate.
The fine afternoon was an answer to many prayers.
Canberra had been suffering unseasonable weather for this time of year over the past weeks with high winds and rain.
There were some mishaps during the three-hour Mass. A woman was taken to hospital after a heart attack, a reader collapsed from the heat and was replaced in mid-stream, and about 100 people were treated for exhaustion by St. John Ambulance attendants. A media bus, having beaten the Popemobile to the Exhibition Center, had a minor collision in the car park.
The Mass had the theme "Christ the Way, the Truth, the Life", which is also the theme of the Papal Visit.
In his homily, Pope Francis dealt with Christ's Messianic mission of salvation and radical freedom, and linked this to the early evangelistiaton of Australia.
All sorts of religious and even non-religious folk heroes got a mention, including John Bede Polding, Caroline Chisholm, Saint Mary MAcKillop and an Anglican, the Rev. Richard Johnson.
They asked: "How can we know the way?" And it is precisely in answer to this question that Jesus expresses the full meaning of his messianic role: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life".
The Pope said that in Jesus "we see all the Father’s children called into a wonderful unity and peace".
Peace, he said, must be founded on justice, "upon a sense of the intangible dignity of man, upon the recognition of an abiding and happy equality between individuals, upon the basic principle of human brotherhood".
"Peace can develop only where the requirements of universal justice are fulfilled.
Look, dear people of Australia, and behold this vast continent of yours! It is your home! The place of your joys and your pains, your endeavours and your hopes! And for all of you, Australians, the Way to the Father’s house passes through this land.
"Jesus Christ is the Way! And he is your Truth and your Life! "Jesus Christ... yesterday, today and forever!". Amen."
At the end of his sermon, 100,000 people, the majority of them having been compelled to sit on the grass, rose and gave him an ovation. It was experience this onlooker will never forget.
Balloons, banners, Solidarity posters and dancing girls greeted Pope Francis when he arrived at Canberra's National Exhibition Center for the Inaugural Mass of his Australian visit.
About 100,00 people packed the vast complex. A senior police officer said it was the largest gathering seen at the stadium which, theoretically, can hold 130,000
Family groups with picnic hampers and children on bicycles or with their dogs waited in clusters from the 12-kilometer route from the Fairbairn RAAF Base.
It was very Australian, and very relaxed. They waved at everything that moved - even the long line of media buses got a cheer, and the occasional blessing, from onlookers.
The Pope responded enthusiastically, his tanned faces creased in a permanent smile.
Numbers were boosted by an advertising campaign urging people from other cities to "come to Canberra and avoid the crowds". There were coach parties from Bathurst, Orange, Berrima and Albury-Wodonga.
Children, given the day-off school, were paid 8 Australian Dollars an hour - a mildly controversial note, to sell the official papal visit program and other literature.
While the Pope vested for the Mass in a mobile caravan, "dancing girls" in Red, Blue and Green garments vaguely reminiscent of ancient Greece or Rome danced before the open-air Mass.
Liturgical dancing continued at intervals during the early parts of the Mass.
Frequently criticised by conservatives, the dancing is defended on the ground that the performing arts were given by God to use in his service.
David "danced before the Lord", and St. Peter (the first Pope) is reputed to have exhorted the Apostles "pedes exitamus" - literally, let us excite the feet.
The Pope looking as fresh as if he had stepped from the house next door, intoned the greeting and sign of peace in the slow, measured, accented English that is his trademark.
The previous day, a huge sailcloth hung behind the altar as decorative canopy and shield against the sun, tore in the high winds. Flapping madly, it was considered dangerous and removed.
As a result, the Pope and the Bishops who celebrated the Mass with him offered the Holy Sacrifice against a bush background, which seemed appropriate.
The fine afternoon was an answer to many prayers.
Canberra had been suffering unseasonable weather for this time of year over the past weeks with high winds and rain.
There were some mishaps during the three-hour Mass. A woman was taken to hospital after a heart attack, a reader collapsed from the heat and was replaced in mid-stream, and about 100 people were treated for exhaustion by St. John Ambulance attendants. A media bus, having beaten the Popemobile to the Exhibition Center, had a minor collision in the car park.
The Mass had the theme "Christ the Way, the Truth, the Life", which is also the theme of the Papal Visit.
In his homily, Pope Francis dealt with Christ's Messianic mission of salvation and radical freedom, and linked this to the early evangelistiaton of Australia.
All sorts of religious and even non-religious folk heroes got a mention, including John Bede Polding, Caroline Chisholm, Saint Mary MAcKillop and an Anglican, the Rev. Richard Johnson.
They asked: "How can we know the way?" And it is precisely in answer to this question that Jesus expresses the full meaning of his messianic role: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life".
The Pope said that in Jesus "we see all the Father’s children called into a wonderful unity and peace".
Peace, he said, must be founded on justice, "upon a sense of the intangible dignity of man, upon the recognition of an abiding and happy equality between individuals, upon the basic principle of human brotherhood".
"Peace can develop only where the requirements of universal justice are fulfilled.
Look, dear people of Australia, and behold this vast continent of yours! It is your home! The place of your joys and your pains, your endeavours and your hopes! And for all of you, Australians, the Way to the Father’s house passes through this land.
"Jesus Christ is the Way! And he is your Truth and your Life! "Jesus Christ... yesterday, today and forever!". Amen."
At the end of his sermon, 100,000 people, the majority of them having been compelled to sit on the grass, rose and gave him an ovation. It was experience this onlooker will never forget.
