Royal Randwick lined up for Pope visit on a bumper weekend

Royal Randwick racecourse is in line to stage a papal Mass two decades after a crowd of 400,000 filled the venue for Pope Benedict XVI’s appearance at World Youth Day.

Sydney will host the Catholic Church’s International Eucharistic Congress in 2028 and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has invited the new head of the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV, to attend.

The American pontiff is yet to take up the offer, but the church has begun devising plans in the event he does, and Royal Randwick has been discussed as a favoured site for a large-scale public gathering.

It’s understood Saturday, September 30, of the October long weekend that year, has been raised as an option for a papal Mass in Sydney.

Such timing would force racing’s $1.5 million Epsom Handicap to be relocated from Royal Randwick and potentially cause disruption around the NRL grand final, which is typically played on the first Sunday of October. It would also be the same day as the AFL grand final in Melbourne.

The church congress, which Sydney is holding in 2028 for the first time in a century, is being organised by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, which said dates and venues were still to be determined.

“There have been several dates touted for the [congress], but we are keeping options open because we are excited about the potential of having Pope Leo here and will obviously work around his availability, if he accepts the invite,” said Benjamin Galea, chief operating officer for the International Eucharistic Congress.

“Estimates of pilgrim numbers and sourcing of venues will differ greatly depending on whether we get our first papal visit in 20 years, and so these early stages are planning for several different possibilities.”

Galea said while the archdiocese had expressed its desire to have the Pope visit Australia, he expected any official acceptance would be made directly in response to Albanese’s invitation.

The quadrennial congress is not as big as World Youth Day, a week-long coming together of young Catholics from around the world.

But a crowd of 100,000 assembled in Budapest for the 2020 event, which was held in late 2021 due to the pandemic, for a closing Mass led by Pope Francis.

Royal Randwick’s 80 hectares and central location make it one of the few places suitable for such an occasion.

In 2008, there was resistance from Randwick-based racehorse trainers to World Youth Day, where more than 200,000 people slept overnight before a Mass fronted by Pope Benedict XVI.

It went ahead after the racing industry was promised $40 million in compensation from the state and federal governments, including $10.8 million for relocation of horses and staff while Randwick was shut down.

Railings had to be taken down and horses moved to temporary stables, but according to early discussions, the crowds for the closing Mass at the 2028 congress would be contained to the in-field and the grandstands rather than on the track itself.

That would prevent the racecourse being out of action for weeks on end, limiting the impact on other major races such as the $20 million The Everest, which is held in mid-October.

Albanese invited Pope Leo XIV to Australia at the Vatican after attending his inauguration Mass along with other world leaders at St Peter’s Basilica in May.

It was the first time an Australian prime minister and a pontiff had met in 16 years and the Pope blessed the rosary beads of Albanese’s late mother, Maryanne, who was Catholic.

The Chicago-born former cardinal is no stranger to Australia, having made several trips in his past capacity as prior general of the Order of St Augustine.

Then known as Robert Prevost, he delivered a Mass at Sydney’s Collaroy Beach after World Youth Day in 2008 and visited St Augustine’s College at Brookvale in 2008 and 2009.

According to the 2021 census, more than 5 million Australians – 20 per cent of the population – identified as being Catholic.

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