Source: SIR
“We are proud of the work done by the Australian Department for Emigration to provide a solution to the question of visas for young Iraqis”, said Mgr. Fisher, bishop coordinator of WYD in Sydney, on announcing this morning that Iraqi youth could participate in WYD. According to a briefing to SIR by WYD executive director Danny Casey, “a part of the youth are already en route to Sydney”. No information, on the other hand, has been released on the number of vistas issued and hence of the number of participants. “The problem – explained Mgr. Fisher – is that many of these youths don’t have a passport and therefore it’s difficult to establish their identity with certainty”. “The presence of the Iraqis will permit them to join in the procession with their national flag in the Via Crucis on 18 July”, Mgr. Fisher confirmed to SIR, though he dismissed the idea they could carry the cross in some Stations of the Cross during the rite.