CARRIED by a Philippine Airlines A340 jet code-named “Shepherd One,” Pope Francis flew back to Rome, ending a record-setting visit that saw him draw a crowd of six million with a million more sending him off on Monday morning.
Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino said more than one million people gathered along his motorcade route hours before his departure for a final glimpse of the pontiff, Agence France Presse reported.
Amid chants of “Viva il Papa, Papa Francesco” and “We love you, Pope Francis,” the pontiff left the Apostolic Nunciature, which served as his official residence while in the country, and was met on the road to the Villamor Air Base by well-wishers who gathered even before dawn.
President Benigno S. Aquino III and members of his Cabinet were at the airport tarmac to send off the pontiff as some 400 street children, who were rounded up by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, sang and danced.
After chatting with the government and church officials present, the pope boarded the plane at 9:49 a.m. after one last wave. The jet was airborne by 10:13 a.m.
While enroute to Vatican City, the pontiff also posted his sixth Twitter tweet in Tagalog: Sa aking mga kaibigan sa Sri Lanka at Pilipinas: Naway pagpalain kayo ng Diyos. Sana´y patuloy niyo akong ipagdasal [To my friends in Sri Lanka and the Philippines: May God bless you all! Please pray for me].
The 78-year-old pontiff showed no signs of fatigue from a gruelling week on the road, smiling and waving to the crowds from an open-air “popemobile” on the way to the airport.
Sunday saw one of the highlights of his Asian journey, with six million people turning out in Manila as he celebrated mass — a world record for a papal gathering.
But even the pope was stunned at the size of the crowd, which surpassed the previous world record of five million set during a mass by Saint John Paul the Great at the same venue in 1995.
“I cannot fathom the faith of the simple people,” Francis said, according to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, who acted as the pontiff’s chaperone during his five days in the Philippines.
Shortly after the pope left, Tagle said the pontiff’s message during the trip was clear.
“The centrality of love for the poor. The centrality of appreciating children who are helpless. How do we face the inequalities,” Tagle said.
The pope began his Asian tour with two days in Sri Lanka, where he canonized the country’s first saint in front of another record crowd.
Police said a million people in the majority Buddhist nation turned out for the event, making it the biggest public celebration ever for the capital of Colombo. – With AFP