MORE than 40 Islanders joined half a million Catholic youths from around the world for an inspirational meeting with the Pope in Australia.

They travelled to Sydney for the largest youth event in the world, which drew 350,000 to its closing mass.

World Youth Day 08 is an international Catholic youth rally, where young people gathered to meet Pope Benedict XVI. Among the 41 youths were five group leaders from Jersey who raised £80,000 to fund their trip to Australia.

Organised by the Catholic Church, the event brings together young people from around the globe to celebrate and learn about their faith. Sheraine D’Ulivo-Rogers, a group leader of the Catholic Church in Jersey, said that they had been fund-raising for two years.

‘The trip has inspired them all and was a moving experience,’ she said. ‘The people on the group are aged between 16 and 30 and it was the first time for many of them to meet the Pope. It was quite an experience for them. They slept in sleeping bags on a race course where it was held.