MANILA, Philippines – If Pope Francis would have to skip events during his Philippine trip, it won’t be the activities in Leyte, a church official said. 

“The Manila and the UST [University of Santo Tomas] events are actually just add-ons. In other words, if we have to prioritize, UST can be removed, Luneta can be removed, but not Tacloban and Palo,” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said on Monday, January 12, during a papal visit conversation organized by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Villegas is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The core of the Pope’s 5-day visit from January 15 to 19 will be to “bring Christ’s compassion” to survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and the magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit the Visayas in 2013. (READ: Pope in the Philippines: ‘A friend visiting a friend’)

Amid all the excitement, Villegas on Monday reminded the audience of mostly UST students that “the primary reason for the papal visit is really to console the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.”

“Si Pope Francis, inimbita sa Sri Lanka, pero sa Pilipinas siya ang nag-volunteer na pumunta. Magkaiba ang dating nun. Malaking bagay yun, na siya mismo ang nagsabing ‘Gusto ko kayong dalawin,” he explained.

(Pope Francis was invited to Sri Lanka, but in the Philippines, he volunteered to come. There’s a difference. It’s a big thing, that he himself said “I want to visit you.”)

Pope Francis will go to Sri Lanka and the Philippines from January 13 to 19. This is his second visit to Asia; the first was in South Korea last August 2014. 

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi ealier said Asia is “one of the great frontiers” of the Catholic Church, while deputy Vatican spokesman Fr Ciro Benedettini said the Philippine trip will help the Catholic Church “enlarge” the number of Christians in Asia.

Villegas said Pope Francis will be going to Sri Lanka as “a church functionary declaring a Sri Lankan saint.”

Rappler will have updates on Pope Francis’ visits to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in a trip journal by contributors Joe Torres and Roy Lagarde. (READ: TRIP JOURNAL: Pope Francis visits Sri Lanka and the Philippines) – Rappler.com

Join Rappler in a 100-day countdown to Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines: a journey from the Vatican to Tacloban. Tweet us your thoughts using the hashtag #PopeFrancisPH!