The head of the Vatican state and the current pope of the Vatican, Pope Francis is expected by millions of his faithful devotees in Manila, the capital of the Philippines where he is expected to arrive today for a state and pontifical visit.
Among the popes itinerary is the visit to the city of Tacloban, the city which was devastated by typhoon Haiyan on November 2013.
The rector of the Philippine Pontifical College in Rome said "It will be like a father visiting his children; the Pope will visit people hit by calamities, victims, people suffering. It can be an opportunity to renew the faith of the biggest Catholic nation in Asia."
The pope's visit has created high levels of excitement and everywhere one can see souvenir shirts and other commodity that bears the image of Pope Francis. To commemorate the event, the Cenral Bank of the Philippines even released a commemorative coin and several record companies released dedicated music albums for the pope's visit.
According to reports, the pope will be celebrating at least three masses during his stay and many believed that the Pope Francis' could surpass that of Pope John Paul II's visit when he visited the country in celebration of the World Youth Day.
According to statistics, the Philippines is the largest Christian nation in Asia in terms of followers with over 130 million devotees which accounts to about 12 percent of the world Christian population.
Pope Francis' will be the first non-European pope to make his second trip to Asia in a span of less than two years, a record withstanding more than 1,300 years.
Anton Pascual, president of the Catholic-owned Radio Veritas in Manila shares a statement saying "We're looking forward to see not only spiritual but social conversion as well; the effect is likely to be greater unity among Filipinos. The pope's power and influence seeps not only through Christian Catholics but also other Christian churches and non-Christians as well."
