Pope Francis back in Rome from PH visit
ARRIVAL. The papal flight reaches Rome after a 5-day pastoral visit to the Philippines. Screenshot of mobile application flightradar24 from KD Suarez
MANILA, Philippines – Pope Francis is back in Rome after a 5-day pastoral visit to Asia's bastion of Catholicism, the Philippines, where millions flocked to his public engagements in a show of devotion to the charismatic pontiff and the Catholic faith.
Mobile application flightradar24, a live tracker of air traffic, showed that the flight of the influential Pope reached Rome at 12:38 am Tuesday, January 20 (Manila time).
In his visit to the Philippines, Francis was met with a celebratory welcome and was sent off to Europe in an elaborate ceremony also attended by top brass officials of the government and the Catholic Church.
The Argentine pontiff spoke to survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) in the hardest-hit region of the country, addressed thousands in a youth encounter where he abandoned his prepared speech to respond to the young testifiers' questions, met with the Philippine President and the diplomatic corps in an official meeting as head of state of Vatican City, presided over a Mass in Manila's largest public park attended by a record-number of Filipinos hearing Mass, among others.
The Philippines is home to roughly 80 million Catholics. – with a report from KD Suarez/Rappler.com
