Pope’s Asia trip to address poverty, dialogue, climate change COLOMBO/VATICAN

COLOMBO/VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis returns to Asia for the second time in less than six months, travelling to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in coming days to underscore his concern for inter-religious dialogue, poverty and the environment.
Security will be a main issue in both countries, particularly in the Philippines, Asia’s only majority Catholic country, where up to six million people are expected to attend an outdoor Mass on January 18.
Up to 40,000 police, troops and reservists will take part in what military chief General Gregorio Catapang has called the country’s biggest ever security operation. ‘There will be soldiers rappelling up and down helicopters to rescue the pope in case he will be pinned down by a sea of people. We may airlift or use naval boats to bring the pope to safety if necessary,’ he said. When Pope John Paul visited Manila in 1995, security perimeters were breached and he had to be taken by helicopter to a Mass site because his car could not get through a sea of some 5 million people. (PTI)