Pope Francis braved an approaching tropical storm to travel
to the far eastern Philippines to comfort survivors of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan.
He was so emotionally undone by their loss that he barely found the words to
offer solace, and then had to cut the trip short because of the dangerous
weather that also threatened his culminating Mass on Sunday.
Before he left the typhoon-wracked city of Tacloban, though,
a soaking wet Francis brought many in the crowd to tears as he ached at their
suffering and recounted how in the days after the Nov. 8, 2013, storm he
decided that he simply had to come in person to offer his comfort.
The pontiff visited Sri Lanka as well as the Philippines on
his second trip to Asia in five months, seeking to promote the Catholic Church
in one of its most important growth regions.
More than one million people gathered along his motorcade
route in the Philippine capital of Manila on Monday morning for a final glimpse
of Francis, the city's planning agency chief, Francis Tolentino, told AFP.
The 78-year-old pontiff showed no signs of fatigue from a
gruelling week on the road, smiling and waving to the crowds from an open-air
"popemobile" on the way to the airport.
President Benigno Aquino then led a red-carpet farewell on
the tarmac, as children sang and danced, before the pope gave a final wave to
the Philippines and boarded his plane to return home.
Sunday saw one of the highlights of his Asian journey, with
six million people turning out in Manila as he celebrated mass -- a world
record for a papal gathering.
The Philippines is famed as the Catholic Church's bastion in
Asia, with 80 percent of the former Spanish colony's 100 million people
following the faith.
But even the pope was stunned at the size of the crowd,
which surpassed the previous world record of five million set during a mass by
John Paul II at the same venue in 1995.
"I cannot fathom the faith of the simple people,"
Francis said, according to the archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio
Tagle, who acted as the pontiff's chaperone during his five days in the
Philippines.
Throughout his stay in the Philippines, where a quarter of
the population lives on 60 US cents a day or less, the pope spoke out against
the forces that entrench poverty.
In a speech at the presidential palace, the leader of the
Catholic Church lectured the nation's elite, calling on political leaders to
show integrity and do something to end the nation's "scandalous social
inequalities".
He again implored people to do more to eradicate poverty,
after an emotional encounter in Manila with a 12-year-old girl who asked why
God would allow children to become prostitutes.
He said superficial compassion for the poor shown by many in
the world, which amounts to just giving alms, was not enough.
"If Christ had that kind of compassion, he would have
just walked by, greeted three people, given them something and moved on,"
he said.
The pope said the main reason for visiting the Philippines
was to meet survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm ever
recorded on land which hit the country in November 2013, leaving more than
7,350 people dead or missing.
He flew on Saturday morning from Manila to Leyte island,
ground zero for the typhoon, and celebrated a deeply emotional mass with
200,000 survivors.
"Some of you have lost part of your families. All I can
do is keep silent. And I walk with you all with my silent heart," he said.
Francis had planned to spend a full day in communities where
homes were flattened by monster winds and tsunami-like ocean surges, but was
forced to return at lunchtime to Manila to avoid another tropical storm.
Still, he was deeply moved by his shortened visit to the
typhoon areas and felt privileged to have made the trip, Cardinal Tagle told
reporters.
Shortly after the pope left, Tagle said the pontiff's
message during the trip was clear.
"The centrality of love for the poor. The centrality of
appreciating children who are helpless. How do we face the inequalities,"
Tagle said.
The pope began his Asian tour with two days in Sri Lanka,
where he canonised the country's first saint in front of another record crowd.
Police said a million people in the majority Buddhist nation
turned out for the event, making it the biggest public celebration ever for the
capital of Colombo.
