World Youth Day Sydney 2008 (WYD08) was a great chance to celebrate faith, but also to make new friends, seek adventure and have fun - according to a survey of more than 12,000 people who registered to attend.

Conducted by the Australian Catholic University and Monash University, "Pilgrims' Progress 2008" studied the responses of 12,275 registered English speaking pilgrims from 164 countries who took part in an online survey and interviews prior to WYD08.

The survey found that 85% were going to their first World Youth Day.

"It also revealed what pilgrims most wanted at WYD08 was a spiritual experience and in that context, to see and listen to the Holy Father," said researcher Michael Mason.

"They said they wanted a closer relationship with God and Jesus, they wanted to really live what they believe, and to have a stronger sense of what it means to be Catholic."

Dr Mason said the older pilgrims, aged 20-35, showed some marked differences from pilgrims aged 15-19, most of whom were still at school.

"The older group was very focused on spiritual values. They were making sacrifices to take a week out to come to WYD08, so they were not messing around. Their spirituality was very full-on and so was their approach to WYD08; they saw it as sacred time.

"The younger group were unabashedly attracted to all the aspects of WYD08 which naturally appeal to younger people; they loved the adventure of it, the excitement of being part of a huge youth crowd, travelling to a spectacular city, making new friends, celebrating? It might be a religious occasion, but it had lots of other appeal as well."

While the majority of pilgrims expressed a strong faith, most of the remainder were at least open to the possibility of spiritual growth, Dr Mason said.

"The pilgrims were not just a random collection of younger Catholics; they were special; they took some trouble to get to this gathering; they wanted to be there,"

Dr Mason said the biggest motivating factors to attend were: friends who were going, encouragement from others (parents and teachers), and personal contact with somebody who had been to a previous WYD.

"There was a surprisingly strong measure of spirituality among teenagers in this group. We'd got the impression from previous research.... [that] especially the younger ones were not much involved with the local church.

"However, that only seems to be the case with only about a quarter of the younger group," he said.

"Nearly half of them are regular churchgoers, have a strong faith and a firm sense of Catholic identity."

The research project is studying the experiences of pilgrims before, during and after WYD08, partly to provide insight for current and future WYD organisers, and as a foundation for ministry to young people after WYD08.

WYD08 was held from 15 to 20 July, drawing more than 400,000 people to its biggest gathering - the Final Mass with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at Randwick Racecourse.

About the project:

"Pilgrims' Progress 2008" is a research project being conducted at Australian Catholic University with the support of World Youth Day 2008, focusing on the pilgrims who attended World Youth Day in Sydney.

The project is studying the experiences of pilgrims before, during and after WYD08, partly to provide feedback to those who organised the event, and also to build an understanding of the spirituality of the pilgrims, as a foundation on which improved ministry to them and to other Catholic young people can be constructed.

The internet survey of registered pilgrims was conducted in May 2008. Stage 2 of the survey included interviews with pilgrims during the event week. Another internet survey of registrants is planned for later in the year.