The SMS has indeed arrived, and even Pope Benedict XVI uses SMS to quickly reach thousands of young people who are set to attend the World Youth Day 2008 celebrations in Australia.

The Pope’s first text message read as follows:

Young friend, God and his people expect much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus – BXVI

By the way, Filipinos are sending the biggest contingent to WYD 2008, according to an Agence France Presse report posted on ABS-CBNNews.com.

Something bad happened along the way, civil liberties-wise: The Australian government wanted to ban protest actions and demonstrations while the Pope was there. But good thing that a court overruled the ban, calling it unconstitutional.