Irish student to read at Papal Mass

A Dublin student will read at a Vigil Mass attended by Pope Benedict XVI in Australia tonight.

Aisling O’Rourke has been chosen for the service to mark World Youth Day, which is expected to attract a congregation of more than half a million young people.

The second-year UCD law student is due to read a spoken excerpt from the Acts of the Apostles in English at the start of the Vigil, with other representatives reading in French, Spanish and Italian.

Aisling, who comes from the parish of Johnstown/Killiney, is among 200 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Dublin marking the 23rd anniversary of the event.

On Tuesday she carried the Irish flag during the event’s opening ceremony to represent the Catholic Youth Care (CYC) in Dublin, of which she is a member.

World Youth Day has become the largest single mobilisation of young people from around the world.

The Mass at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney is the culmination of the event and is expected to attracted millions of people worldwide via the internet.