Pope in Asia: Philippines awaits papal arrival

Pope Francis is on his way to the Philippines for a five-day visit to a country of 80 million Roman Catholics.

He is the fourth Pope to travel to the Philippines, where the highlight of his visit will be a huge open air mass in the capital, Manila, on Sunday.

Other engagements include a visit to Tacloban to meet survivors of a devastating typhoon in November 2013.

Security will be tight after unsuccessful attempts to kill two of his predecessors.

Thousands of soldiers and Police have been deployed to protect the leader of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis is travelling to the Philippines from Sri Lanka, where he called for unity in the conflict-torn nation and canonised its first saint. 

BBC