Flags from every nation billow in the wind. National cheers can be heard in a multitude of languages. A certain aura of excitement and anticipation grows as the main event approaches. This may sound like the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but this is a different international event.

Rather than awaiting the entry of the athletes, the crowds await the arrival of a single man. This is World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia, and Pope Benedict XI is present to address the Catholic youth, who are here from July 15-20.

This gathering, held every two or three years, was the vision of the late Pope John Paul II, who embraced the papacy as a platform from which he could strengthen the church for the future. He convened the first World Youth Day in Denver in 1993.

Pope Benedict XI decided to continue the gathering of Catholic youth and selected Sydney as the 2008 host city. The main goal of World Youth Day is to unite young members of the Catholic Church worldwide and inspire them to live their faith. The weeklong event consists of concerts, lectures and catechetical study and concludes with a vigil in which the participants keep watch for the papal arrival.

World Youth Day participants are pilgrims, not vacationers seeking a quiet getaway. As a participant in the previous World Youth Day held in 2005 in Cologne, Germany, and in this year's assembly, I have had the opportunity to truly understand what it means to be on a pilgrimage. It means that there might not always be access to showers and certainly not beds. Pilgrims walk many miles while carrying a backpack.

But somehow, this rugged and unfamiliar way of life serves as a way to unify young people. The pilgrims from the United States as well as those who journeyed from war-torn nations, prayed together. My father and older brother joined me on this trip, which included 500 people from the Pittsburgh area who belong to a group called Youthtowne.

This strong feeling of unity could be felt during the closing vigil and Mass, as more than 300,000 pilgrims waited through the night. During the evening prayer service, all pilgrims held a lighted candle and remained solemn and attentive.

The flame, lit from Pope Benedict's candle, was passed from person to person throughout the enormous crowd, uniting participants in their conviction to let their Christianity shine through the way they live their lives. (I saw someone trying to use a lighter to light his candle, but another pilgrim told him that the papal flame was coming and to put his lighter away!)

Such an awesome week of faith and learning takes incredible vision. With its breathtakingly beautiful harbor and famous Opera House, Sydney served as an ideal setting.

The epitome of this beauty was evident during the five-mile pilgrim walk to the site of the vigil. The Sydney Harbor Bridge was closed to automobiles, and the faithful walked across by the thousands. The view to the sides provided a glimpse of the city while the sights ahead and behind showed the enthusiastic crowds.

As I look back on my experiences from this World Youth Day, I recognize that I have been blessed with opportunity, but I also recognize that by attending this gathering, I have been given a mandate: Relay the lessons and messages that you have learned to others and pass on your youthful exuberance in order to tackle world issues. Just as the Olympics promote peace among nations, so, too, does World Youth Day encourage international harmony and optimism for the future.