Colombo: Pope Francis will travel to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January for his second trip to a continent where evangelisation is a big priority for the Catholic Church, officials said yesterday.
The 77-year-old Argentinian will visit Sri Lanka from January 12 to 15, before heading to the Philippines, Asia’s largest Catholic country, until January 19.
The trip will come six months after his first visit to Asia, an upcoming visit to South Korea from this August 14 to 18.
Asia had been repeatedly tipped as a destination for possible papal trips as Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI did not travel there during his eight-year pontificate. The continent is considered rich with potential for the Church.
Catholics make up 3.2 percent of the population in Asia, but the number of believers is growing.
Francis will be travelling to Sri Lanka, where some 7 percent of the population is Catholic — in a period of difficulty for the local church.
AFP
