Pope Francis traveled to the far eastern Philippines to comfort survivors of devastating Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, then cut his own trip short because of another approaching storm.
Yesterday, in a windy and rainy morning Mass with a crowd that included Haiyan survivors, he conceded it was hard to find the right words when surrounded by so much pain.
“So many of you have lost everything,” Francis told 150,000 Catholic faithful gathered in an open field near the airport in Tacloban, the city hit hardest by Typhoon Haiyan. “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.”
Many in the crowd wept as Francis spoke, overcome by the memory of the Nov. 8, 2013, storm that leveled entire villages with ferocious winds and 7m waves, leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing. Francis joined them in solidarity, even donning the same yellow rain poncho over his vestments that Mass-goers were given because of the rain.
Tropical Storm Mekkhala was expected to make landfall on nearby Samar Island in the late afternoon or early evening with winds of 100kph to 130kph, the weather bureau said.
Francis drew applause when he told the audience that he had decided to visit the city of 200,000 in the eastern Leyte province in the days immediately after the storm.
“I wanted to come to be with you. It’s a bit late, I have to say, but I am here,” he said.
Francis spoke in his native Spanish. He ditched his prepared homily and instead composed a brief prayer off the cuff that began: “Thank you, Lord, for sharing our pain. Thank you, Lord, for giving us hope.”
As he spoke, the winds whipped the altar cloth and threatened to topple over the candlesticks.
After the Mass, his motorcade took him past cheering crowds to an abbreviated lunch with 30 survivors of Haiyan, and then to a cathedral in the city of Palo.
Entering without the usual ceremony and procession, Francis took the microphone and told a surprised crowd that he would have to leave at 1pm, four hours ahead of schedule.
“I apologize to all of you,” he said, speaking in Italian through a translator. “I am sad about this, truly saddened.”
The pope said the pilots of the Philippine Airlines jet told him the weather would worsen after 1pm.
“We barely have time to get to the airplane,” he said.
Some of the priests and nuns in the cathedral groaned, though mostly in a good-humored way.
After a quick exchange of gifts, in which Francis received a wood image of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception made from the debris from the typhoon-damaged church, his motorcade sped to the airport in Tacloban.
The papal delegation was soaked when it boarded the plane, and trip organizers asked the flight crew to turn off the air conditioning to prevent them and the pope from catching a cold. A private jet carrying several Philippine Cabinet officials who accompanied Francis to Leyte blew its front tires during takeoff following the pope’s plane and veered off the runway. There were no injuries and ambulances evacuated the passengers, the police said. Ferry services were suspended to Leyte province, stranding thousands of travelers including some who wanted to see the pope.
A police official estimated the crowd at the Mass at 150,000 before the pope’s arrival and said tens of thousands more were lined up outside the airport area.
The pope blew kisses, waved and flashed the thumbs up sign to the crowd while riding on a covered “popemobile” from the airport terminal to the nearby altar.
“I hope the pope can help us forget and help us accept that our loved ones are gone,” said Joan Cator, 23, weeping as she spoke. She lost two aunts, and four nieces and nephews. “We still cry often and don’t talk about what happened.”
Villagers hung banners welcoming the pope from the bow of a steel-hulled cargo shop that smashed houses when it was swept in by Haiyan and remains on shore.
“Pope Francis cannot give us houses and jobs, but he can send our prayers to God,” said Ernesto Hengzon, aged 62. “I’m praying for good health and for my children too. I am old and sickly. I’m praying that God will stop these big storms. We cannot take any more of it. We have barely recovered. Many people are still down there.”
Francis is visiting the Philippines after stopping in Sri Lanka earlier in the week.
Today, he is due to celebrate the culminating Mass of the visit in Manila’s Rizal Park, where as many as 6 million people are expected. St John Paul II drew a record 5 million people to his final Mass in Manila in 1995, and organizers say they think Francis might top that record.
During his visit, Francis has condemned the corruption that deprives the poor and he issued his strongest defense yet of church teaching opposing artificial contraception. He also made a surprise visit to meet with street children cared for by a Catholic foundation. Photos of the event show a beaming Francis sitting with two boys on his lap, and another with children embracing his belly.
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