SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Disgruntled horse trainers withdrew a legal threat against the 2008 World Youth Day vigil and papal Mass at Royal Randwick Racecourse and agreed to work with the New South Wales government on a compensation package.
In principle, the trainers now have no objection to the events being at the racecourse, local media reported.
Jim Hanna, communications director for World Youth Day, said news that the trainers had averted legal action "reflected the advanced nature of the discussions between all of the stakeholders."
He said compensation would probably be much lower than the $50 million (US$43.4 million) figure circulated in the media. In the period leading up to the vigil, Hanna said up to 200 horses could continue training at Randwick "on all but three days" and although it would be necessary to relocate horses to other race venues "no race meetings will be canceled."
The Randwick Trainers Association had said it would explore legal avenues to stop use of the racecourse for 10 weeks next year because of the July 15-20 World Youth Day activities.
In a statement, Hanna said World Youth Day organizers would be building an altar area "the size of a football field" and installing infrastructure, including fiber optic cable, "that had the potential to deliver long-term benefit to all racecourse users."
Hanna refused to name the location of the World Youth Day's opening Mass, saying the experience with Randwick made the planning committee "cautious of making any announcement" before the agreement had been completed.
Comments that include profanity, personal attacks, antisocial behavior such as "spamming" and "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will not be posted on Catholic Online. Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our
terms of service. While Catholic Online invites robust discussion, we maintain the right to not print material that is patently false in its claims concerning the teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, overtly anti-Catholic or which, in the opinion of the moderator, are intended to mislead readers as to what the Catholic Church teaches. Comments DO NOT necessarily reflect the opinion or views of Catholic Online.
RSS | Make Catholic Online Your Homepage
