Italian Profile! With Richard Cuda. 

Richard Cuda is 24 years old and is an  Australian with Italian heritage in Sydney. This will be his third WYD. 

1.   What's the connection between WYD, your country and you?

"I've been to the past two WYDs, and I am also a member fo the Italian Australian  Youth Assocation (IAYA) . When WYD was coming to Sydney,  members of IAYA were approached to  help organise a gathering, and because of my  previous World Youth Day experiences  and my Italian heritage I decided to get involved and be apart of the whole movement!"


2.   How many pilgrims are coming to Sydney from your country?

Over 10,000.

3.   What are some of the main Dioceses, cities and groups represented?

The  main group is the Italian Episcopalate (which  consists of the Italian archdioceses) making up 7-8,000. A few thousand Catechumens (1-2,000). As well as wider  church  movements such as the Papa Boys ( which is a big Italian youth movement with a particular fondness for the Pope ).


4.   Will your country be represented in the 'Papal Plate' WYD Soccer Competition?

 Could you hold a  soccer competition without Italians...lol.


5.   Is your country having a National Gathering at WYD and if so, when and where is it on?

Yes - at the Entertainment Centre on Wednesday (16 July) and hoping to get  10,000 Italian and 1,500 Italian-Australian pilgrims


6.   Are there any migrants from Italy living in Australia - if so how many?

In the 2006 Census, there were nearly 200,000 Italian born residents in Australia, alongside just over 850,000 Australians who identified themselves as having Italian ancestry.

7.   Any National Foods of interest?

Pizza and pasta .

8.   Any National Past-Times of interest?

Soccer, food, fashion, coffee , music, art.  


9.   Describe your country in 3 words?

"Passion - Italians are very passionate people and put their heart into everything they do ; culture - from the food to the history to the art , Italians stamp their own brand on everything they do ; and fashion -  Italians always pride themselves on being trendsetters and doing things first, whether through  modern thinking and art as evidenced in the Renaissance or to now with setting fashion trends with what people wear and what they eat."