Pope inaugurates Australian pilgrim centre in Rome

(October 20, 2011) The previous evening, Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI (on Wednesday) inaugurated a new pilgrim centre in Rome for Australians, hoping that believers who visit Rome will return home renewed in their faith. The inauguration of the 80-room facility called ‘Domus Australia’ was timed for the first anniversary of the canonization of Australia’s first Saint Mary MacKillop, whom Pope Benedict raised to the glory of the altars on Oct. 17, last year in the Vatican. Her relics were among those placed in the chapel's new altar, dedicated on Oct. 16. Speaking to supporters of the ‘Domus Australia’, the Australian bishops and pilgrims, Pope Benedict hoped the saint would continue to inspire Australians to live lives of holiness, serving God and their neighbours. Pope Benedict prayed that the pilgrims visiting ‘Domus Australia’ in the years to come will return home with "firmer faith, more joyful hope and more ardent love for the Lord, ready to commit themselves with fresh zeal to the task of bearing witness to Christ in the world in which they live and work."