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Ecstatic crowds greeted Pope Francis as he arrived on Thursday in the Philippines, Asia’s most populous Catholic nation, for the first papal visit in 20 years.
Church bells tolled across the country and hundreds of children danced and waved small Philippine and Vatican flags as the pontiff emerged from the plane and was welcomed by well-wishers led by President Benigno Aquino III. A sudden gust of wind blew off his papal cap seconds after he appeared, and Francis grabbed futilely for it and then smiled and descended the stairs from the plane.

Young Filipinos in matching white T-shirts gave him a rousing, thumping hip-hop welcome that drew the flight attendants from the plane out onto the stairwell to watch.
On the tarmac, a boy and a girl from a house for street children handed flowers to the pope, who embraced them.
“I told him bienvenido [welcome in Spanish,” nine-year-old Lanie Ortillo said, adding the pontiff smiled and replied, “Yes, bienvenido.”
Francis then boarded his white, open-sided “pope-mobile” and his motorcade began rolling along the 11-kilometre route to the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila, where he will stay.
Tens of thousands of people called his name and snapped pictures from behind concrete barriers topped by iron fencing and guarded by policemen along the entire stretch in a trip beamed live on TV nationwide. Francis constantly shifted from left to right, smiling and waving.
The government has declared national holidays during the pope’s visit, which runs until Monday. He will be in the capital, Manila, and fly Saturday to eastern Leyte province, where he plans to meet survivors of Typhoon Haiyan that left thousands of people dead in 2013.

	Related story: Street children detained to clear way for Pope Francis' Manila visit
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, said he hopes the visit by Francis, the first Latin American head of the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church, would be festive and spiritually uplifting and nurture compassion at a time when the country is still recovering from recent deadly disasters, including Haiyan.
“It’s like a big, big, big, big national fiesta,” a beaming Tagle said in an interview on the eve of the pope’s arrival. The visit, he said, “comes at that point when people would really be helped by a moral and spiritual boost coming from someone who really cares.”
Francis will meet on Friday with Aquino, who has waged a campaign against poverty, an issue close to the pope’s heart, but has clashed with Catholic leaders over a reproductive health bill that promoted use of artificial birth control. Congress, which is dominated by Aquino’s allies, passed the bill in 2012.
Meetings with Filipino families, Catholic Church leaders and the youth were also slated.
During his time in Sri Lanka, the pope travelled to the jungles of the war-torn north for a show of solidarity with the victims of the country’s 25-year civil war, urging people to forgive one another “for all the evil which this land has known.”
“It is very important to keep our country peaceful and have our religious strength become more and more after this visit,” said Sumith Periera, an engineer who came to see the pope off.
The pope’s trip has given Philippine authorities daunting security challenges, including an outdoor Mass in a historic Manila park on Sunday that officials say could draw a record six million people.
About 50,000 policemen and troops have been deployed to secure the pope in a country where relatively small numbers of al-Qaeda-inspired militants remain a threat in the south despite more than a decade of US-backed military offensives.
Spanish colonialists introduced Christianity in the 16th century and today just over 80 per cent of the Philippines’ 100 million people are Catholics, with other Christians making up about 12 per cent. Muslims account for 5.6 per cent, most of them in the south.


Ecstatic crowds welcome Pope Francis to Philippines for first papal visit in 20 years

Pope Francis waves to wellwishers in Manila. Photo: AP

Pope Francis walks past cadets from the Philippine Military Academy upon touching down in the capital Manila yesterday for a four-day state visit to the country. Photo: Reuters

Wellwishers try to capture the arrival of Pope Francis using their mobile phones at his official residence in the Philippines in Manila. Photo: AFP

Pope Francis waves to the crowd next to President Benigno Aquino upon his arrival at Villamor Air Base for a state and pastoral visit, in Manila. Photo: Reuters

Pope Francis waves next to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on his arrival at Manila airport. Photo: AP

Pope Francis disembarks from his plane after arriving at a military airbase in Manila.  Photo: AP

Security fears have Filipino leaders on edge ahead of the arrival of Pope Francis where Catholics wait in anticipation. Photo: Reuters

Filipino baby Vincent clasps a calendar showing Pope Francis as his mother Flor, 20, tries to sell souvenirs along the pontiff's motorcade route into Manila. Photo: AP

Filipino nuns pray before the arrival of Pope Francis. Photo: EPA

Students holding umbrellas rehearse a dance hours prior to the arrival of the pope at Villamor Air Base outside Manila. Photo: AFP

Pope names 17th century missionary Joseph Vaz in Sri Lanka a saint

Pope Francis kisses a child upon his arrival at the seafront Galle Face Green for canonisation ceremony of Joseph Vaz in Colombo. Photo: AP

Pope Francis kisses a child upon his arrival at the seafront Galle Face Green for canonisation ceremony of Joseph Vaz in Colombo.Photo: AP

Pope Francis says work of rebuilding Sri Lanka must include respect for human rights

Pope Francis is greeted as he arrives at the Colombo airport on January 13, 2015. Photo: Reuters

Sri Lankans hold a portrait of Pope Francis in Colombo. Photo: AFP

Sri Lankans hold a portrait of Pope Francis in Colombo.Photo: AFP

Security main concern for Pope Francis' visits to the Philippines and Sri Lanka

A cut-out picture of Pope Francis is surrounded by Filipinos as part of preparations for his visit. Photo: AP

A Filipino boy plays volleyball next to a giant billboard showing Pope Francis in Manila. Photo: EPA

Filipino policemen get instructions from a senior as they wait along a street during a deployment in Manila, Philippines. Photo: EPA

Traffic police told to wear adult nappies during Pope’s visit to the Philippines

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino. Photo: Wikipedia

Filipino motorists in heavy traffic with posters showing Pope Francis prior to his visit being displayed at a street in Manila on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

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Asia

Security tight for Francis in first papal visit to the largely-Catholic country for 30 years, where he will meet President Aquino and visit victims of Typhoon Haiyan


Pope Francis arrived on Thursday in the Philippines, Asia’s most populous Catholic nation, where ecstatic crowds awaited the first papal visit in 20 years.


Ecstatic crowds welcome Pope Francis to Philippines for first papal visit in 20 years

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Security tight for Francis in first papal visit to the largely-Catholic country for 30 years, where he will meet President Aquino and visit victims of Typhoon Haiyan

Security tight for Francis in first papal visit to the largely-Catholic country for 30 years, where he will meet President Aquino and visit victims of Typhoon Haiyan