For the first time since arriving in Australia in July 2007, the World Youth Day Cross and Icon leave the mainland to share the spirit of World Youth Day with Australia's island state.

Highlights of the week will include:

Spirit of Tasmania Arrival & Welcome to Country: Sunday 11 May 2008

At 7.00am the World Youth Day Cross and Icon will arrive in Tasmania on the Spirit of Tasmania. A celebratory breakfast will be held onboard the ship before a welcome to country takes place on the foreshore of East Devonport.

One Mass for the entire Archdiocese of Tasmania - Launceston

This will be the ONLY Mass held in Tasmania on Sunday 11 May. Organisers are expecting thousands of parishioners from around the state to celebrate Mass, the official handover of the Cross and Icon from Melbourne and the commissioning of Tasmanian pilgrims for World Youth Day Sydney 2008.

Lady Jane Franklin II Tour - Strahan: Wednesday 14 May 2008

The cruise ship will tour the Cross and Icon, local school students and invited guests around Macquarie Harbour. The tour will include travel along the Gordon River and a visit to historic Sarah Island, Tasmania's oldest convict settlement.

Risdon Prison visit - Risdon Vale: Thursday 15 May 2008

The Cross and Icon will be taken inside the Risdon Prison complex, Tasmania's only prison. Members of the prison community and World Youth Day team will share in a liturgy where Hobart's Choir of High Hopes will also perform. A procession around both the Risdon Female and Maximum Security Prisons will follow the liturgy.

Parliament House Event - Hobart: Friday 16 May 2008

Beginning on the lawns of Parliament House with an address from Tasmanian Premier The Hon Paul Lennon MP, 500 school students will process the Cross and Icon through the streets of Hobart.

Visiting a place of healing - Port Arthur: Saturday 17 May 2008

The Cross and Icon will be walked through the historic site on the Tasman Peninsula where the Port Arthur massacre took place in April 1996. The World Youth Day symbols will bring hope and healing to the site.

Around 500,000 people are expected to take part when Sydney hosts the 23rd World Youth Day from 15-20 July this year. The event will also mark the first visit to Australia by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Only 71 days to go to WYD08!