Pope to visit Philippines disaster victims
MANILA - Pope Francis is to visit the Philippines, Asia's bastion of the Catholic faith, in January 2015 to comfort victims of disasters including Super Typhoon Haiyan, local church leaders said Monday.
Specific details of the trip were not released, but Manila's Archbishop Luis Tagle said the pope viewed Asia as crucial in spreading the faith.
Tagle said the pontiff had told him during a recent meeting at the Vatican that "Asia is important for evangelisation".
"The Christian population of Asia may be numerically small but it is significant," he quoted the pope as saying.
The planned visit comes as the Philippines struggles to recover from a series of disasters in 2013 that claimed thousands of lives.
In November, Super Typhoon Haiyan -- the most powerful storm to make landfall in history -- left about 8,000 dead and millions homeless, devastating communities across the central Philippines.
A month earlier, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake destroyed many historic churches and killed more than 200 people, also in the central region.
"Our compassionate shepherd comes to show his deep concern for our people who have gone through devastating calamities," said Socrates Villegas, head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.
"Pope Francis comes to revive our drooping spirit and to lead us to greener pastures," he told reporters.
AFP
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