Pope Francis To Meet Typhoon, Quake Survivors In Visit To Philippines

The pastoral visit of a reigning pope is a cause for spiritual joy and celebration in the Philippines, the only Catholic nation in Asia. Steeped in religiosity, Filipinos see the first visit of Pope Francis on Jan. 15-19, 2015 as a source of great blessing.

The last papal visit to the Philippines was 20 years ago in 1995 when St. John Paul II presided at the 10th World Youth Day, and before that he visited in 1981. Pope Paul VI visited in 1970.

The 10th World Youth Day in the Philippines was attended by five million people, the largest papal crowd in Church history.

During his historic visit to the Philippines, Pope Francis will seek to comfort Filipinos who suffered from super-typhoon Haiyan, the world's strongest, killing over 6,000 people, and leaving millions homeless, as well as the 7.2-magnitude earthquake, both hitting the Visayan region in 2013.

After the super-typhoon hit the country, the Pope indicated his wish to condole personally with the survivors. After the earthquake destroyed many ancient churches in the provinces of Bohol and Cebu, the Pope sent the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima to the disaster area for Filipinos to pray to avert future disasters. The original statue has in its crown the bullet that almost killed St. John Paul II.

A highlight of Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines is the luncheon he will share with Filipino survivors of the deadly super-typhoon in Tacloban City, the hardest hit area. He will bless the St. Francis Center for the Poor, a home for the elderly, the sick and orphans, and will meet with priests, men and women religious, seminarians and families of survivors.

The government and the Church are working together for a simple but memorable papal visit. President Benigno S. Aquino III is expected to welcome the Pope on his arrival at a military air base. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle and Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas are members of the 32-man papal entourage.

Amid the frenzied preparation, the CBCP, the organization of Filipino bishops, called on its members to be more like Pope Francis in their ministry and to serve with humility and happiness.

Preparations for the visit, whose central theme is "Mercy and Compassion," seek to ensure that the Holy Father is safe and secure wherever he goes, and that the people are able to demonstrate their faith and spiritual fervor.

Like at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Pope, who likes to be close to the people, will go around Rizal Park, an open park in the heart of the capital Manila, to greet and bless the faithful prior to the start of the Mass, in which 200 bishops and 2,500 priests will concelebrate with the Pope. There will be 20 communion chapels, 5,000 communion distributors and 5,000 communion ushers to guide the faithful. They will carry white umbrellas with papal seal for identification. The number of pilgrims and devotees during the papal mass at the park is expected to surpass the five-million mark.

For those who cannot be at the fringes of Rizal Park, 18 giant LED screens will be set up along Roxas Boulevard, a major road near the park, to allow spillover crowds to join the Mass, which will be capped by the candlelight singing of "Tell the World of His Love," the theme song of the 10th World Youth Day in the Philippines, whose 20th anniversary is commemorated during the visit of Pope Francis.

The military and the police, coordinating with Vatican security and Swiss Guards, will be on hand to provide security. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is deploying 7,000 troops as back-up in venues of papal events. The areas may be declared no-fly zones on the dates of the papal visit. The AFP is ready for a "people surge," an uncontrolled crowd situation. Filipino and Vatican security will guard the Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican Embassy) where the Pope will stay.

Since his election to the papacy on March 13, 2013, Pope Francis has traveled to several countries outside Italy. On July 22-29, 2013, he presided at the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where 3.5 million pilgrims gathered at Copacabana Beach to hear Mass and dialogue with him. On May 24-26, 2014, he visited Israel, Jordan and Palestine, celebrated Mass at Amman International Stadium, prayed at Israeli West Bank barrier, and held interfaith dialogue with the Orthodox Church.

On Aug. 14-18, 2014, he went to South Korea for the Sixth Asian Youth Day. He condoled with families of victims of MV Sewol ferry disaster, beatified the first generation of 124 Korean martyrs in Gwangwhamun Square, and said Mass for peace and reconciliation of the divided Korean peninsula.

He also visited Albania, France and Turkey. His first trips for 2015 will be in Sri Lanka on Jan. 13-15 and in the Philippines on Jan. 15-19.

He may visit the United States for the World Meeting of Families slated on Sept. 22-27, 2015 in Philadelphia.