Manila: The Philippines is eagerly awaiting Pope Francis’ scheduled trip next year, the presidential palace said, following reports that the 77-year-old Pontiff plans to visit areas of the country devastated by typhoon Haiyan.

“We certainly look forward to the coming of Pope Francis. We are a country with a majority population who are Catholics, and so this would be an opportunity for us to welcome His Holiness Pope Francis,” Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing.

Considered a bastion of Catholicism in predominantly non-Christian Southeast Asia, some 80.9 per cent of the estimated 93 million inhabitants of the Philippines are Catholic.

The last occasion that a pontiff had visited the Philippines was in 1995, when millions of Filipinos came to see Pope John Paul II, and mark World Youth Day.

The Southeast Asian region is a mix of various faiths ranging from the predominant Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, to Animism and Confucianism as well as Christianity.

Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013 leaving entire villages destroyed. More than 6,200 people died from the calamity that swept the Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas and Western Visayas region as well as Palawan and parts of Southern Luzon. Some 12 million people suffered property damage or losses in 574 towns and cities.

Right after the typhoon struck, the Vatican was among the first to respond.

The church donated an initial $150,000 (Dh550,938) in emergency aid while charity efforts continue.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Pope Francis confirmed his plan to visit the country next year while on his flight back to Rome from the Middle East on Tuesday. He had said plans are underway for him to visit Sri Lanka and Philippines on a single trip in January 2015.

 

“With regard to Asia, two trips are planned: the one to South Korea, for the meeting of young Asians, and then, next January, a two-day trip to Sri Lanka and then on to the Philippines, to the area affected by the typhoon,” Pope Francis was quoted as saying in a media conference.

A visit from Pope Francis is expected to not only bolster the faith of Catholic Filipinos, but likewise strengthen their morale.

In January, the Pope sent a message of his plans to visit the typhoon-devastated areas in the province of Leyte through Cardinal Robert Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

The Pontiff had sent Cardinal Sarah to the Philippines specifically to visit the areas devastated by Haiyan and to extend more assistance for rehabilitation efforts.

“You go now because I might be going there also,” Cardinal Sarah quoted Pope Francis as ordering him.

Reacting to news of the Pope’s impending visit, Cardinal Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle said the Pontiff “wants to come close” to the victims of the disasters.

“I think one purpose of the visit of the Holy Father is to come close to the people who suffered from the recent typhoon and the earthquake,” Tagle said in an interview with Catholic News Service published on Thursday.

“I have said his coming will be stronger than the typhoon, but in a positive way,” Cardinal Tagle said.