January 16, 2015, the second day of the visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines was full of activities. In the morning, the Pope met with President Benigno Aquino, together with other political leaders, urging them to reject corruption and promote “honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good”. Speaking to the civil authorities and diplomats gathered in Manila’s Rizal Ceremonial Hall, the Pope spoke of the need to defend families, young people and the elderly, ensuring social justice and respect for the human dignity of all.

Later on, celebrating Mass in Manila’s Cathedral, Pope Francis urged Catholics in the Philippines to be ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation, proclaiming the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion. Speaking to bishops, priests, religious and seminarians gathered in the Cathedral, the Pope said the Church in the Philippines is called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ.

As Filipinos prepare to mark the fifth century of the arrival of the Church in the Asian nation, the Pope said Catholics must build on that legacy of the past by building a society inspired by the Gospel message of charity, forgiveness and solidarity in the service of the common good.

The Pope challenged his listeners to show God’s mercy and compassion and become prophetic witnesses to the Gospel in order to transform Filipino society. If the Church fails to put the poor at the centre of its ministry, the Pope stressed, we fail to understand the message of Christ.

After the Mass, Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop at a center for street children in Manila. He visited a home for street children run by the ANAK-Tnk charitable foundation.  The Pope spent almost a half an hour with some 320 children who celebrated his visit at the centre with songs and dance, hugs and an exchange of brief words.

The children were gathered in the centre’s courtyard for their meeting with Pope Francis.  The children had prepared small gifts for the Holy Father, including a wooden image of Our Lady – a copy of the one displayed in the centre’s chapel, a photo of the Holy Sacrament amid rubbish for the adoration of group of scavengers, and a mosaic made by a child out of bits of colored paper.

Concluding his visit with the children with a blessing, Pope Francis went on to have lunch at the nunciature in Manila before an afternoon meeting with families.

In the afternoon, during his meeting with the families, at the “Mall of Asia Arena,” Manila’s principle sports arena, the Pope Francis told the Filipino families that they should take time to rest and to pray together and to be examples of holiness.  The world “needs good and strong families” to overcome threats of poverty, materialism, destructive lifestyles, and those caused by separation due to migration; “the Philippines needs holy and loving families to protect the beauty and truth of the family in God’s plan.”

Today, on January 15, 2015 Pope Francis has arrived in the Philippines for a five-day visit to the nation’s 80 million Roman Catholics. The main purpose of his visit is to comfort the Filipino people devastated by the typhoon and the earthquake that hit the Visayas. The highlight of the Pope’s visit will be a huge open air Mass in Manila on Sunday (January 18) and a visit to Tacloban (January 17) to meet survivors of a devastating typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), where more than 6,000 people were killed in November 2013.

The theme of Pope’s visit to the Philippines is “Mercy and compassion” and it refers to Matthew 9:36, where Jesus, after “seeing the people, felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

The official website for the papal visit states that the pontiff’s message is a challenge “to imitate Christ, the Good Shepherd, who is Mercy and Compassion.”

It also cites Evangelii Gaudium, in which Pope Francis wrote, “The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel.”

The Filipinos are invited to see the visit as a time to re-learn and live the spiritual and corporal acts of mercy and to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. For  Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, the Archbishop of Manila “The pastoral visit of Pope Francis focused on Mercy and Compassion would certainly offer vast opportunities to experience grace, to hear callings, to disturb comfort zones, to value the poor, to renew society, to care for creation and to live honorably.”