Australia's multiculturalism and religious diversity is a perfect backdrop for the upcoming World Youth Day (WYD), which is said to be bigger than the 2000 Olympics.
Gone are the days when showing faith was considered "déclassé and unpopular", says respected sociologist and religion expert Professor Emeritus Gary D. Bouma from Monash University.
Now, the growing ethnic disparity is driving for more openness of expression.
"We are moving into a time where being explicit about religious affiliation is back on the agenda," says Professor Bouma.
He believes the openness is directly linked with the recent drive by Muslim women to wear traditional head scarves, or Hijabs, as well as other groups wearing religious clothing.
"Many people, whether they are Jews or Hindus or Sikhs or Muslims, make their religious identification clear by what they wear. That's a kind of backdrop for other people to also own their religious identification," says Professor Bouma, who himself is an Anglican Priest.
"Now with a very multi-faith society, where we have more Buddhists than we have Baptists, more Muslims than we have Lutherans, it's a very different environment," he says, while noting that the religious landscape in Australia has undergone dramatic changes in recent decades.
In 1923, 43 per cent of the population were believed to be Anglican, while over 92 per cent said they were Christian. Now Catholics are the most popular religion, representing 27 per cent, followed by Anglicans at 18.5 per cent and those of non-religious convictions also at 18.5 per cent.
Even the Catholics themselves have become increasingly multicultural in Australia – a shift from the mainly Irish denomination in the early 20th century. Italians came in the thousands after World War II, and continue to form the majority of the current Catholic population in Australia. More recently Dutch and Vietnamese immigrants have also increased in numbers.
It is this diversity that Professor Bouma believes will help bring the WYD's message of unity and connectedness, not just for the Catholics.
"That's why I'm so pleased to see Youth Day coming here, because it will be set in contexts where the religious diversity is evident. We have mosques and temples and all sorts of religious architecture around…and proudly so."
During the World Youth Day events between July 15 and July 20, some 500,000 international pilgrims are expected to converge on Sydney. The event has already been dubbed as the biggest event that Sydney has ever hosted, overtaking the 2000 Olympics and last year's APEC Summit.
It is also the first time that Pope Benedict will visit Australia since being appointed to his post in 2005, following the death of John Paul II – the founder of World Youth Day.
The events are set to unite and encourage more people of any age, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, to celebrate their faith, says Professor Bouma.
However, the focus remains on inspiring younger generations in the Catholic communities, believes Camillus O'Kine, president of the Australian Catholic Students Association.
"I think it [is] a very exciting time, the leader of the church is coming to Australia…it's giving young people a chance to see the leader being active amongst young people."
Professor Bouma likened the WYD to the Billy Graham Crusades – an American evangelist who conducted 41 "Crusades" from 1948 until recently – preaching to thousands at packed stadiums across the US and the world.
"It's one of those things that they say: 'There was an important part in my faith formation that I remember.' I'm sure that there are many Catholics around the world who hold up World Youth Day as being that kind of an event in their lives."
In Sydney, the week-long events will include daily sermons, confessions in Hyde Park, and a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross. The final day will culminate in a massive sleep-out and Papal Mass.
The first Youth Day was held in 1986 in Rome. Every two to three years, WYD is taken to an international host city. The 2005 congregation in Cologne, Germany attracted over 1.2 million people of whom almost half a million were international pilgrims.
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