Pope to conclude Asian trip with huge outdoor Mass of millions in Manila

Pope Francis wraps up his Asian trip on Sunday with an outdoor Mass expected to draw one of the largest crowds in Philippine history. Organizers say as many as six million people may attend the afternoon service at Manila’s Rizal Park, more than the approximate five million who flocked to a Mass by Pope John Paul II 20 years ago in Asia’s largest Catholic country. The faithful began arriving at the sprawling park on Saturday night to get good places and police expect the crowd to flow over into surrounding areas. The Vatican said Francis will dedicate the Mass in part to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which killed at least 6,300 people, left a million others homeless and displaced four million when it ravaged parts of the country in 2013.

I will go whether there’s a storm or not. I am not afraid of the rain. This is history, and this will probably be my last chance to see a pope in person.

Nona Andaya Castillo, 52

On Saturday, the pontiff donned a plastic poncho against gusting winds and driving rain in order to keep a promise to comfort survivors in Tacloban, ground zero of Haiyan, but a new storm forced him to leave four hours earlier than planned. The effects of tropical storm Mekkhala, which hit the Tacloban area with gusts of up to 130 km/h while the pope was there, may be felt in the capital during the Mass. At the Mass in Tacloban, Francis put aside his prepared homily and delivered a very personal, emotional message of comfort to survivors, who stood amid puddles in mud-soaked fields and along roadsides. He told them that he had vowed to make the trip in November 2013 when he saw reports of the devastation Haiyan had caused.

I felt that I had to be here … I am here to be with you, perhaps a little late, I have to say, but I am here.

Pope Francis, speaking to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban