This is a good time to be Catholic in Australia.

I have been to three previous World Youth Days and I know the mix works. And it did in Sydney.

All Sydney, and not just Catholic Sydney, took the pilgrims to their hearts, going out of their way to help. One example is a local Islamic school which provided accommodation for a significant group from the US.

The weather was perfect, although the weeks before and after were cold and wet. One example of all the prayers for the success of the event being answered.

The events of the week highlighted the contrast of the wild enthusiasm of the 500,000 who turned out to welcome Pope Benedict on the Thursday and the prayerfulness that greeted the moving and spectacular re-enactment of Christ’s last hours through the city the next day.

Sydney Harbour in the sunshine is a magnificent sight. Vancouver or Cape Town might be sight rivals but as the flotilla of ships carried the Pope to the official welcome, the foreign visitors commented that few cities could offer a comparable approach.

It was a first to travel in the Popemobile with the Holy Father. Kilometre after kilometre of excited young adults, youngsters too, running and waving behind the crowds, trying to keep up.

World Youth Day has given us many similar scenes to remember, with 400,000 at the final Mass with the Pope, the largest gathering in Australian history.

And while Sydneysiders took the young pilgrims to their hearts, so did the pilgrims with Sydney. As they leave us this week they are taking away precious memories, not only of our beautiful city, but, more importantly, also of the thousands — staff, volunteers and passers-by — who worked hard or went out of their way to help.

They will also be able to keep in touch with the people they met in Sydney through the new online social networking site Xt3 (xt3.com), which was launched only a month ago and already has 27,000 members. Look out Facebook — the Catholics are coming!

Despite some grizzles leading up to the event, Sydney loved World Youth Day. A poll published this week found 78 per cent of Sydneysiders felt that the organisers led by Bishop Fisher and Danny Casey did a good job, and this majority verdict was justified; 71 per cent thought WYD was a good thing for Sydney, and only 12 per cent said it was bad. An even higher percentage, 81 per cent, agreed it was good to see so many young people enjoying themselves.

Christianity makes a difference to daily living; and for the better. This is one reason why the followers of Christ have multiplied across the world for nearly 2,000 years. WYD enabled us to restate our central claims in dramatic fashion. Our first task is to present Jesus Christ, his teachings and his followers who make up the Church. This is the core.

While Pope Benedict is not a great public orator, he is an outstanding teacher and his speeches bear re-reading and study. His quiet personality reveals a good and decent man, at peace with himself and the world around him. People said they felt he was talking to them personally.

I have celebrated Mass in many different situations, occasionally even when the congregation becomes distracted and even noisy. One small miracle was that at all the great gatherings, each with congregations of 150,000 or more, there were long periods when you could have heard a pin drop. Tens and tens of thousands of young pilgrims, most of them Aussies at the weekend, praying silently. To those who claim it couldn’t have been so, I say: “Ask someone who was there.”

Pope Benedict was delighted, grateful for all the official and public kindness he received and possibly a bit surprised by the depths of faith he encountered.

I was pleased and honoured to have been part of the team organising WYD2008. But I am also pleased the event is over!

It was a marvellous, life-giving celebration. It won’t be back again in Sydney for at least a generation — if ever. Far after my time.

Cardinal Pell is the Archbishop of Sydney