Sydney, Sunday July 13, 2008. Benedict is in Australia for the July 15-20 World Youth Day festival

Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Australia en route to Sydney where he will attend the Catholic Church's World Day of Youth festival. The pope told reporters during an in-flight news conference that he hoped his presence among hundreds of thousands of young people would raise consciousness about climate change and the environment. It is also widely expected that he will repeat an apology made to those who have suffered sexual abuse from the clergy he made during his April visit to the United States. World Youth Day, begun in Rome in 1986, is held every three years. Cologne in Germany was the last host. He was welcomed by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the Richmongd RAAF base airport on Sydney's north-western outskirts upon his arrival