BEFORE Pope Benedict left Australia last week he had one final task - to thank members of the World Youth Day 08 Organising Committee for their efforts in ensuring that the week's celebrations were a resounding success.

Goulburn's Senator Ursula Stephens, has had the role of coordinating the work and commitments of the Commonwealth Government's contribution to World Youth Day, and represented Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on the WYD Organising Committee. She also chaired the intergovernmental committee responsible for the VIP ancillary program for WYD.

"I spent all the previous week in Sydney, attending the major WYD08 events as well as several diplomatic meetings and receptions," Dr Stephens said.

"All the formal occasions were wonderful, but the mood in the streets and the venues was electric - the sea of cheerful, singing pilgrims and helpful volunteers transformed the streets of Sydney"

"I ran into several groups of pilgrims who had spent the previous week in Goulburn for the World Youth Forum. They were full of praise for the Goulburn community and asked me to pass on their thanks to Father Tony Percy, the host families and all who were involved.

"On the Wednesday night, I ended up eating with about 20 Spanish pilgrims. They didn't know at the time that the next WYD would be in Madrid, but they were excited about the plans they had heard for Pope Benedict's arrival in Barangaroo on Thursday.

"I'm sure it exceeded all expectations, because it was truly spectacular," Senator Stephens said.

After spending several sessions with pilgrims from Ireland, France and South America, Dr Stephens said she was honoured to have been introduced to Pope Benedict before he left Australia.

"We were waiting in the hangar for nearly two hours on Monday morning, and it was definitely worth the wait!

The Governor General introduced me to the Holy Father, and explained my work on the organising committee.

"Pope Benedict told me that my hands were cold! He thanked me for my work, saying it had been a truly wonderful event and that he would treasure the memories of this trip to Australia," she said.