NORTH SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—The University of the Visayas (UV) Chorale from Cebu sang at the World Youth Day (WYD) Pilgrims’ Mass at the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel in North Sydney on Wednesday.

Hearing some of the liturgical songs sung in Filipino was a moving experience for Filipino churchgoers. “It gave me goose bumps,” said one.

“No wonder they’re world-renowned,” remarked one of the nuns of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the congregation co-founded by MacKillop (1842-1909), the first Australian to be beatified.

Pope Benedict XVI came to the chapel Thursday morning and stayed for 15 minutes, praying at the altar and at MacKillop’s tomb, and then speaking briefly with the nuns.

The 30-member UV Chorale, founded in 1999, is on a three-week concert tour in New South Wales billed “Receive the Power,” which is also the title of the WYD 2008 theme song.

The chorale’s visit to Australia, its third, is on invitation of the Bethlehem Communities Australia, an organization working among the poor in Cebu and other parts of the Philippines.

The UV Chorale won the silver and bronze medals in two different categories at the Busan Choral Festival & Competition in November 2007, besting 39 other choral groups from Asia, America and Europe.

During Wednesday’s Mass, the group also performed the WYD 2008 theme song, composed by first Australian Idol Guy Sebastian, and “Australians’ Blessed One,” a song about MacKillop. They used bamboo percussion and other Filipino instruments.

The concelebrated Mass was officiated by two Filipino archbishops, two bishops from New Zealand, and a priest from Texas.

Welcoming the faithful to the 7:30 a.m. Mass, an aboriginal representative of the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel said the UV Chorale’s presence brought back memories of her “heartwarming experience” in Cebu, where she had spent three years a few years back.

The UV Chorale winds up its concert tour with guest performances at various WYD music and cultural festivals.