In the predawn hours of Saturday, another typhoon was headed for the same general area in the Philippines, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.
Typhoon Mekkhala was upgraded from a tropical storm and should make landfall in the Philippines two hours after the start of the Pope’s outdoor Mass, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.
Francis is scheduled to land in Tacloban at 9:30 a.m. Saturday local time (8:30 p.m. Friday ET) and will then hold an outdoor Mass 30 minutes later near the airport for hundreds of thousands of people.
Wet, gusty forecast
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The Pope’s trip to Asian isles began Tuesday in Sri Lanka, and he landed in the Philippines on Friday.
On Friday, Francis met with President Benigno Aquino, and the Pontiff urged political leader to reject corruption and promote “”honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good,” the Vatican said. He also spoke of “the moral imperative of ensuring social justice and respect for human dignity,” according to a copy of his remarks provided by the Vatican.
“Here in the Philippines, countless families are still suffering from the effects of natural disasters. The economic situation has caused families to be separated by migration and the search for employment, and financial problems strain many households. While all too many people live in dire poverty, others are caught up in materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life and the most basic demands of Christian morality,” the Pope said in other remarks.
The Pope will end his tour Monday, when he will leave Manila for Rome.
