Tens of thousands of Catholic pilgrims will walk through Sydney today and gather for an overnight vigil as activists march to protest Pope Benedict XVI's policies against contraception and abortion, Bloomberg reported.
Sydney Harbour Bridge will be closed to traffic as the first pilgrims begin crossing over at 5:30 a.m. local time. They will sleep at the city's main horse-racing track while awaiting a papal Mass before as many as 300,000 people that will close the weeklong World Youth Day celebrations.
``It is the climax of the week,'' said Dave Gale, 20, from Wagga Wagga, 450 kilometers (280 miles) southwest of Sydney. ``So many Christian people in one place for this event is Incredible.''
The NotoPope Coalition, which includes gay-rights activists and atheists, says it will hand out condoms and carry coat hangers to symbolize the death of women from ``backyard'' abortions.
The Federal Court of Australia this week overturned police powers to fine protesters more than A$5,000 ($4,850) if they ``annoy'' people attending the event, saying the regulations introduced by the New South Wales state government infringe upon freedom of speech.
As many as 5,000 people may take part in the protest march along the route of the city's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, said coalition spokeswoman Rachel Evans. Protesters, wearing T-shirts with slogans such as ``Pope Go Homo'' and ``The Pope Is Wrong, Put a Condom On,'' are negotiating with police to extend their route to a park where pilgrims will gather.
``We have to take a stand against a world leader whose policies condemn millions of people to death from AIDS,'' said Evans. ``His anti-condom policy is killing Africa.''
World Youth Day began July 15 and ends tomorrow with the final Mass at Royal Randwick Racecourse. The church-sponsored event is billed as the biggest youth festival in the world. Organizers say it is the largest event Australia has hosted, drawing people from 167 other countries.
The New South Wales government, which has spent A$86 million in hosting the event, forecasts it will generate A$150 million in revenue for the local economy.
The pilgrimage walk will follow a 10-kilometer (6-mile) route from the city's North Shore, across the bridge and through the city center to the racecourse, where the 81-year-old pope will address the vigil at 7 p.m. local time.
About 300,000 people will likely take part in the vigil and spend the night in sleeping bags, according to organizers. Forty priests will be on hand to provide spiritual guidance.
The celebration of faith has given Sydney a carnival atmosphere this week as crowds waving flags and blowing whistles walked to morning religion classes and attended afternoon music and dance festivals. More than 300 city streets have been closed to traffic, transforming main arteries such as George Street into pedestrian walkways.
Tens of thousands of people gathered yesterday to watch a re-enactment of the last days of Jesus Christ's life in which actors dramatized the Stations of the Cross at the Opera House and other sites.
It is Benedict's first visit to Australia, where about 26 percent of the country's 21.3 million people described themselves as Catholic in the most recent census, carried out in 2001. About 17 percent of the world's population is Catholic, according to the US Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook.
World Youth Day was established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 as an annual event to reach out to the next generation of Catholics. Every two to three years it is taken to an international host city, and was held in the German city of Cologne in 2005 and Toronto in 2002.