Pope on Philippine soil

9 years ago | Posted in: World | 895 Views

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.”

source: inquirer

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