Storm shortens Pope's visit to Philippines
TACLOBAN, Philippines — Pope Francis traveled to the far eastern Philippines to comfort survivors of devastating Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, then had to cut his own trip short because of an approaching storm.
In a stormy 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.”
The Nov. 8, 2013, storm leveled entire villages with ferocious winds and 21-foot waves and left 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 60 to 80 miles per hour, 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.
Francis spoke in his native Spanish — which he reverts to when he wants to speak from the heart. 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.
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.
After the Mass, the pope’s motorcade took him past cheering crowds to a 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 1 p.m., 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 received a wood image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception made from the debris of the typhoon-damaged church.
Villagers hung banners welcoming the pope from the bow of a steel-hulled cargo ship that smashed houses when it was swept in by Haiyan and remains on shore.
