Pope Francis has celebrated p an open-air Mass for tens of thousands of Catholics in the Philippine city of Tacloban which was flattened by Typhoon Haiyan just over a year ago.
But he had to cut short his visit by four hours because of an approaching storm, Tropical Storm Mekkhala. He had been due to have lunch with survivors of Typhoon Haiyan.
The Pope said it was when he saw the devastation caused by Haiyan that he had decided to go to the Philippines.
Around 90 per cent of the city of Tacloban was destroyed when Haiyan struck in November 2013 and in all, an estimated one million people remain homeless after the disaster.
Earlier, he apologised to the crowds who were waiting for him amid pouring rain and strong winds at the main cathedral in Leyte province and said: "I am sad about this, truly saddened, because I had something prepared especially for you."
The Pope said his pilots had advised him that weather conditions were going to deteriorate. "We barely have time to get to the aeroplane," he said.
In his homily at the open-air Mass, at Tacloban airport, he said survivors of Haiyan had seen “so many small miracles of goodness” in the relief effort – as well as many tragic signs of evil “in the profiteering, the looting and the failed responses to this great human drama”.
He hoped this experience would make people more sensitive to the needs of the poorest and more determined to tackle corruption. “Let us pray that it will lead to a rejection of all forms of injustice and corruption which, by stealing from the poor, poison the very roots of society.”
Local media reported than one woman was killed after the Mass when scaffolding near the stage collapsed.
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