Pope Francis will travel to Asia in mid January. He will be in Sri Lanka from the 12th to the 15th. ;The very next day, he's scheduled to arrive in the Philippines where he will stay until the 19th. ;
On Wednesday, January 14th he will visit Madhu. There he will pray at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, which is a pilgrimage site for Catholics. It's located in one of the most violent areas ravaged during the Civil War in Sri Lanka. In fact, it was a place of refuge for thousands of people during the conflict. ;
On Friday, January 16th, Pope Francis will fly to Manila, Philippines on a Sri Lanka National Airlines flight. Thousands of families will welcome the Pope at the Mall of Asia Arena of Manila, which can hold up to 20,000 people. ;
On Saturday, January 17th in Tacloban, Pope Francis will have lunch with survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines on November 2013 and took the lives of over 6,000 people. ;
He will also meet with thousands of youths on Sunday, January 18th at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.
Thousands of people are expected to attend. During John Paul II's visit in 1995, almost 4 million people attended his Mass in Manila. ;
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