Pope Francis completes weeklong trip to Asia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pope Francis flew home Monday, Jan 19, after a weeklong trip to Asia, where he called for unity in Sri Lanka after a civil war then asked Filipinos to be "missionaries of the faith" in the world's most populous continent after a record crowd turned up in his final Mass in the Philippine capital, the Associated Press reports.

President Benigno Aquino III, Catholic church leaders and about 400 street children yelling "Pope Francis we love you," saw him off at a Manila air base, where the pontiff, carrying a black travel bag, boarded a plane for Rome. Standing at the top of the stairs, the pope waved, slightly bowed his head and then walked into the plane.

Francis dedicated his four-day trip to the Philippines to the poor, marginalized and victims of injustice. He denounced the corruption that has robbed them of a dignified life, visited with street children and traveled to the eastern city of Tacloban to offer prayers for survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, the deadly 2013 storm that devastated one of the Philippines' poorest regions.

A crowd estimated at a record 6 million people by officials poured into Manila's rain-soaked streets and its biggest park Sunday as Francis ended his Asian pilgrimage with an appeal for Filipinos to protect their young from sin and vice so they can become missionaries of the faith.

"Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia," he said, according to the AP.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican had received the figure officially from local authorities and that it surpassed the 5 million who turned out for St. John Paul II's final Mass in the same park in 1995.

Francis dedicated the final homily of his Asia trip to children, given that the Mass fell on an important feast day honoring the infant Jesus. His focus was a reflection of the importance that the Vatican places on Asia as the future of the church since it is one of the few places where Catholic numbers are growing — and on the Philippines as the largest Catholic nation in the region.

"We need to care for our young people, not allowing them to be robbed of hope and condemned to a life on the streets," Francis said.