Pope Francis Making 2nd Asian Journey With 8-Day Visit To Sri Lanka, Philippines In January 2015

Pope Francis will bring the "joy of Gospel personally" to the people of Asia when he begins an eight-day mission to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and then to Manila and typhoon-devastated Tacloban City in the Philippines, Asia's largest Roman Catholic nation, on Jan. 12, 2015, the Vatican and other church officials have announced.

The Holy Father will begin his second trip to Asia in six months with a visit to Sri Lanka on Jan. 12. The Pope earlier visited South Korea in August.

On Friday, the Vatican published the official itinerary of the Pope's visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

In Sri Lanka, the Pope will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, one of the most important Catholic sites on the island.

According to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Pope is coming to the Philippines on Jan. 15 mainly to show compassion to the survivors of super-typhoon Haiyan and to join them in prayers. Haiyan, recorded history's mightiest storm, killed more than 6,000 people, and devastated large areas in central Philippines, on Nov. 8, 2013. Some four million people are still homeless in the storm-hit areas, officials say. Haiyan affected more than 14.5 million people in six regions and 44 provinces in the Philippines.

The Pope will visit Tacloban City, the worst typhoon-hit area, and have lunch with Haiyan survivors on Jan. 17.

Pope Francis' visit also marks the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Manila World Youth Day, the largest ever papal event, which gathered around 5 million young people to pray with St. John Paul II.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said Pope Francis is bringing the "joy of Gospel personally, to us, on five special days in January."

The papal visit "carries a message of pastoral love, mercy and compassion," the Filipino prelate added.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis may visit New York in time for the United Nations' 70th anniversary in 2015, the Vatican's U.N. envoy said.

Archbishop Bernardito Auza said the Holy Father wanted to attend a family rally in Philadelphia next year. "If he comes to Philadelphia, he will come to New York," Auza said.

A papal visit in 2015 would coincide with an upcoming exhibition at the U.N. headquarters in New York City that will feature century-old manuscripts relating to the Pope's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.