Pope Francis drew a record six million people as he celebrated mass in the rain-swept Philippine

Pope Francis drew a record six million people as he celebrated mass in the rain-swept Philippine capital Sunday, a triumphant finale to an Asian tour in which he championed the plight of the poor.Filipinos are famous for practising a passionate brand of Catholicism and they turned out in a celebratory mood that defied the gloomy skies, determined to see the charismatic 78-year-old pontiff.
Francis made an exhilarating entrance to a Manila bayside park for the mass aboard a "popemobile" that was styled after the nation's iconic, flamboyant and much-loved "jeepney" minibus.
Dressed in a plastic yellow poncho, he waved and smiled to wildly cheering crowds, stopping repeatedly so he could lean over barriers and kiss babies, before reaching the sea of believers at Rizal Park.

The Philippines is famed as the Catholic Church's bastion in Asia, with 80 percent of the former Spanish colony following the faith.
But even the pope was stunned at the size of the crowd which he looked out on from the stage.

 

Hundreds of thousands of people gather in the rain to wait for a mass to be celebrated by Pope Franc …

"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.
Six million turned out to see the pope at the park and along motorcade routes, the head of Manila's planning agency, Francis Tolentino, told AFP, adding this was based on calculations done with the police.
This surpassed the previous world record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by John Paul II at the same venue in 1995.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said Sunday's crowd could even reach seven million. However he did not have any firm assessments to base this on.
- 'Gift of God' -

This aerial handout photo taken and released by the Philippine Air Force Public Information Office o …

Perla Ponce, 76, a retired nurse who travelled hundreds of kilometres from her home in the southern Philippines, said she felt "euphoric" to have seen the pope and been a part of the mass.
"You can't describe the feeling. It's just like you have met Jesus Christ himself," a rain-soaked but beaming Ponce told AFP.
Volunteer rescue worker Kristine Bancure had been on duty as a medic through the day but also got a glimpse of the pope.
"It's an overwhelming feeling. I felt the hair on my skin standing up," she said.
In his homily, the pope praised Filipinos for their reverence.

Pope Francis (R) embraces two children, including 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar (2nd R), during his v …

"The Philippines is the foremost Catholic country in Asia. This is itself a special gift of God, a blessing," the pontiff told the vast crowd.
"But it is also a vocation. Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia."
He also spoke out against "poverty, ignorance and corruption", a theme he has focused on repeatedly during his five-day visit to the Philippines.
In his first speech of his tour, at the presidential palace, Francis lectured the nation's politicians to show integrity and end "scandalous social inequalities".
About 25 million Filipinos, or one quarter of the population, live on the equivalent of 60 cents a day or less, according to government data.

Police stand along a highway in Manila on January 14, 2015 during security preparations ahead of a v …

- Emotional meeting -
Before the mass, the pope had an emotional encounter with former street children at an event at a Catholic university.
Glyzelle Palomar, a 12-year-old taken in by a church charity, wept as she asked how God could allow children to descend into prostitution and drug addiction.
The pope folded her in his arms, and discarded his prepared speech as he reverted to his native Spanish to deliver an impromptu and heartfelt response.
"She is the only one who has put a question for which there is no answer and she wasn't even able to express it in words but in tears," he told those gathered at a Catholic university in Manila.

This handout picture released by the Vatican press office (Osservatore Romano) shows the faithful br …

The pope called on people to show tangible, genuine concern for the poor and marginalised.
"(There are) certain realities in life we only see through eyes that are cleansed with our tears," he said.
- Typhoon trip -
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 claimed more than 7,350 lives in November 2013.
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.
"Long live the pope!" the crowd chanted before the mass.
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 to Manila to avoid another tropical storm.
Still, he was deeply moved by his truncated time in the typhoon areas and felt privileged to have made the trip, Cardinal Tagle told reporters.
The pope's tour, which also took him to Sri Lanka, was his second trip to Asia in five months, in a nod to the region's growing importance for the Church as it faces declining support in Europe and the United States.
It was also the fourth papal visit to the Philippines, and the rapturous reception given to him throughout his stay cemented the nation's status as the Church's Asian role model.


An estimated three million people filled Manila's main park and surrounding areas for Pope Francis' final Mass in the Philippines last night, braving a steady rain to hear his message of hope and consolation for the Southeast Asian country's most downtrodden and destitute.
Francis rode into Manila's Rizal Park on a popemobile based on the design of a jeepney, the modified US Army World War II jeep that is a common means of public transport here. He wore the same cheap, plastic yellow rain poncho handed out to the masses during his visit to typhoon-hit Tacloban.
Organisers had expected as many as six million people might turn out, surpassing the five million record set by St. John Paul II at the same park in 1995. But with a steady rain falling, people were seen turning around along one of the main boulevards leading to the park and heading away.
Earlier, Francis drew an estimated 200,000 people to Manila's Catholic university, where he came close to tears hearing two rescued street children speak of their lives growing up poor and abandoned.

Francis dedicated his four-day trip to the Philippines to the poor, denouncing the corruption that has robbed them of a dignified life, visiting street children and travelling to Tacloban to offer prayers for the survivors of the deadly 2013 Typhoon Haiyan that devastated one of the Philippines' poorest regions.
Francis told survivors: "So many of you have lost everything. I don't know what to say to you, but the Lord does know what to say to you. Some of you lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silent. And I walk with you all with my silent heart."
He insisted on travelling around Tacloban in his exposed, open-sided popemobile in the rain, and he and his aides were so drenched by the time they boarded the earlier-than-expected flight back to Manila that trip organisers begged the flight crew to cut the air conditioning lest they catch cold.

Pope Francis is welcomed in Manila's main park by hundreds of thousands of followers. Photo / AP
In Manila, Francis spoke off the cuff to respond to four young people who spoke of their lives, including little Glyzelle Palomar, 12, who wept as she recounted her life story and asked why children, in particular, suffer so much. She spoke of children who are abandoned by their parents and end up in prostitution, but could not finish her remarks because she broke down in tears.
"Only when we are able to cry are we able to come close to responding to your question," Francis said. "Those on the margins cry. Those who have fallen by the wayside cry. Those who are discarded cry. But those who are living a life that is more or less without need, we don't know how to cry."
"I am not satisfied just seeing him on TV," said Rosalinda Kho, a devout Catholic who arrived before dawn outside Rizal Park with her daughter, Rosana, to secure a place for the Mass.

With a steady rain falling, people were seen turning around along one of the main boulevards leading to the park. Photo / AP
Kho said she agreed with Francis' condemnation of corruption that has deprived the poor.
"Our country is rich yet so many are poor," she said.
Near escape from incoming storm
Shortly after Pope Francis' plane left Tacloban early to avoid a coming storm, strong crosswinds blew a smaller executive jet off the runway at the airport.
The 16 people on board included several Philippine Cabinet members who had accompanied Francis to the typhoon-hit region.
Everyone on board was safe, said spokesman Eric Apolonio of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
The plane was left stuck in muddy ground after it swerved off a runway while taxiing.
Police said Kristel Padasas, a 27-year-old volunteer with Catholic Relief Services, who was among about 150,000 people who attended a rain-drenched Mass celebrated by the Pope near Tacloban's seaside airport, was killed after she was hit by scaffolding.
Vatican spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi said the Pope inquired about how he could show "his own suffering and solidarity" with the woman's family. Police reports said the woman, who suffered a skull fracture, was an only child.
Francis cut short his visit because of the approaching storm, which brought rains and strong winds to Tacloban.
Tropical Storm Mekkhala made landfall on nearby Samar Island two hours after he left with winds of 100 to 130km/h.