We’re all excited about the Register’s new website, Pope2008.com, which we will be using to give readers up-to-the-minute reports about the Pope’s visit to America.

When Tim Drake went to Cologne, Germany, for Pope Benedict XVI’s first World Youth Day, he kept readers informed via a blog he personally set up for the occasion. The blog quickly gained a reputation for being the best way to vicariously experience these events.

He provided readers with more than the bare facts about these events. He gave readers a real sense of what it was like to be there — both the confusion of finding events and the joy at seeing the Pope.

I still remember a couple of memorable images he shared. One was a professional woman staring agog and misty-eyed at a procession of young people enthused about their faith. She told Tim she had never imagined such a thing existed.

Another was a group of policemen who set their riot gear down by a wall and sat drinking in a pub, watching the young people go by. German police expected trouble at such a large gathering of young people, but soon realized there would be none.

Drake will do the same thing at Pope2008.com, both for the Pope’s visit to America and for his visit to Sydney for World Youth Day.

We intend to put as much news on Pope2008.com as we can to help you experience Pope Benedict’s trips this year — either in person or virtually.