Sydney - Not all the 225,000 pilgrims at Sydney's week-long Catholic youth festival are hoping that the picture-perfect weather holds until after the closing open-air Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

"Rain. We're praying for the drought to break," local youngster Johanna Kelly told the Daily Telegraph on Friday.

The worst drought on record forced the sale of the family farm last year. Her Father is out of work and the family of seven get by on her mother's wage as a teacher.

Kelly, 19, is one of 100,000 local pilgrims in Australia's biggest city to meet the pope and proclaim her faith at World Youth Day.

"Drought is such a large part of Australia and while it does challenge people's faith at times, it has to rain eventually," she said.

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Sydney - Catholic youngsters in Sydney for a weeek-long love-in with Pope Benedict XVI were promised a life-changing experience Friday as they lined the harbour for a theatrical re-enactment of the

Sydney - Piles of blankets and woolly jumpers began appearing on the steps of Sydney's Catholic churches Thursday as residents of Australia's biggest city responded to an urgent call to help stave