Pope on Philippine soil

MANILA, The Philippines—Pope Francis is, finally, on Philippine soil. The head of the Roman Catholic Church disembarked from his chartered SriLankan Airlines plane at 5:58 pm to begin a five-day state and pastoral visit to the predominantly Catholic Philippines. He was met at the bottom of the landing stairs by President Benigno Aquino.

The arrival ceremonies, held inside the secure facility of Villamor Airbase, were led by high government and Church officials, including Vice President Jejomar Binay and Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, Archbishop of Cotabato.

He is expected to read his arrival statement shortly.

Pope Francis arrived from Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he canonized the island-nation’s first saint, Joseph Vaz, in a “vibrant” ceremony described by a Sri Lankan newspaper as “one of the biggest public gatherings the city has ever witnessed.”

For a comprehensive view of the papal visit, read the Inquirer’s special site.

On his first full day Friday, Jan. 16, he will pay a courtesy call on President Aquino and meet the diplomatic corps in Malacanang, celebrate Mass with select clergy at the Manila Cathedral at around noon, and attend an “Encounter with Families” at the Mall of Asia Arena. Pope Francis will spend almost all of Saturday, Jan. 17, in Tacloban and Palo, in Leyte, considered by many as ground zero of the Yolanda disaster.

He will meet religious leaders and Filipino students at the University of Santo Tomas on the morning of Jan. 18, and celebrate an open-air Mass in the afternoon at the Rizal Park in Manila, in a culminating event that is expected to draw millions of Catholic faithful.—JN