World Youth Day/Week/Month is over, the Pope’s off to make his next global appointment, and the city is looking like it does after every big bash, whether it be crazy New Year’s Eve or the colourful Mardi Gras: Ragged, yet satisfied.

Not surprisingly, Sydney WYD has been touted as the best ever (isn’t every event held in Australia regarded as such)?

Thousands upon thousands of Catholic pilgrims from across the globe gathered en masse for a mass mass at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday and, by and by, there was barely a whisper of any trouble.

The Pope delivered outstanding messages of hope, and armed today’s youth with optimism and a holy direction to save the world from itself.

A tough ask, and it’s uncanny how often the next generation is tasked with cleaning up the mess.

While many are against the notion of spending millions on a glorified religious ceremony (don’t Churches have plenty of their own assets and money to utilise before grabbing pennies from the pockets of poor people, which today’s NSW taxpayers can claim to be?), God forbid I actually have to agree with my dad on the WYD wash-up.

So here it is: World Youth Day, a grandoise concept, actually showed plenty of promise in terms of what we can expect from the next generation.

The multitude of faces with bright smiles, the energetic optimism of so many young people, and their true desire to make the world a better place can only be interpreted as good signs ahead for us all, whether we’re religious or not.

Now it’s up to the rest of us to ensure the world’s in top nick when it comes time to pass it on to the set of good, young hands reaching out for it.