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Divorce ban shows Pope’s Filipino host Catholic church power is a humble, rising in Philippines03 church star 04 www.kuwaittimes.net SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2015 Kuwait Fitness Meet up, continues to brave cold weather condition Page 05 Storm kills Tacloban papal mass volunteer: Church spokesman TACLOBAN: A woman working as a volunteer for Pope Francis’s mass in the Philippines was killed yes- terday as stormy weather sent steel scaffolding crashing on to her, a church spokesman said. Francis cut short his trip to a central Philippine island, which he was visiting to meet with survivors of a catastrophic typhoon that killed thousands in the area 14 months ago, because of the storm. The scaffolding hit the 21-year-old woman in the chest and pinned her to the ground, killing her, Father Amadeo Alvero, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Palo, told reporters. The pope celebrated mass amid heavy rain at the airport, then was forced to fly back to the capital Manila four hours earlier than scheduled to avoid the worst of Tropical Storm Mekkhala.—AFP Philippine plane following Pope Francis overshoots runway TACLOBAN: A plane carrying top aides of Philippine President Benigno Aquino over- shot a runway in stormy weather yester- day, authorities said, shortly after Pope Francis’s plane took off from the same air- TACLOBAN: Residents wearing white and yellow raincoats gather during a visit of port. Pope Francis in Tacloban city, Philippines, yesterday. Francis (photo inset) traveled to the far eastern Philippines to comfort survivors of devastating Typhoon Haiyan The plane’s nose wedged into the mud in 2013 on yesterday, but cut his own trip short because of another approaching at Tacloban airport in the central storm. — AFP Philippines but no-one was injured, Francis Tolentino, a senior government official who was at the scene, told DZMM radio. “I saw it taxiing down the runway, then Pope braves storm for emotional it overshot,” Tolentino told DZMM radio sta- tion. Philippine typhoon memorial Aquino’s executive secretary, Paquito Ochoa, and spokesman, Herminio Coloma, TACLOBAN: Pope Francis braved heavy rain yes- tropical storm. “Long live the pope,” the crowd Most of the people in the crowd at Tacloban were among those on the chartered plane, terday to celebrate an emotional mass with a sea chanted as he walked off the plane to be imme- wore thin yellow plastic ponchos handed out by according to Tolentino. of weeping survivors of a super typhoon in the diately buffeted by strong winds and intense organisers, and the pope also put one on before They were among a group of senior offi- Philippines that killed thousands, saying their rain, which later in the day forced him to cut walking on to a nearby stage to celebrate mass cials in Tacloban to accompany the pope as pain silenced his heart. short his trip to other typhoon-hit areas. in heavy rain. he visited survivors of Super Typhoon Francis flew in from the national capital of His welcome echoed the rapturous reception “I would like to tell you something close to my Haiyan, the strongest storm every recorded Manila to Tacloban, one of the cities devastated that millions gave the pontiff during the first two heart,” the pope said as many in the crowd on land, which killed 7,350 people in 2013. 14 months ago, to be greeted by hundreds of days of his trip to the Philippines, reinforcing its clutched crucifixes and cried. Continued on Page 2 thousands of people but also another severe status as the Catholic Church’s bastion in Asia. Continued on Page 2 SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2015 2 Pope braves storm for emotional Philippine typhoon memorial Continued from Page 1 “When I saw in Rome that catastrophe, I felt I had to be here. And on those very days, I decided to come here. I’m here to be with you.” Super Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm ever recorded on land, left 7,350 people dead or missing in November 2013 as it dev- astated fishing and farming towns on central islands that were already among the Philippines’ poorest. Many of those communities are still strug- gling to recover, with the rubble of destroyed buildings lying in piles and millions of felled coconut trees strewn across idle farmland. The 78-year-old pontiff acknowledged the enduring pain being experienced by the sur- vivors. “Some of you have lost part of your fami- lies. All I can do is keep silent. And I walk with you all with my silent heart,” he said. The pope sought to reassure his audience, declaring Jesus would never let them down. Francis’s five-day visit to the Philippines is partly aimed at helping the Church expand its influence in Asia, but he had repeatedly said giving comfort to typhoon survivors was his top priority. Renewed hope “I can’t explain how I feel. I am filled with gratitude. Never in my life did I think that I’d see a pope,” 68-year-old housewife Virginia Torres told AFP, wiping tears and raindrops from her face after the pontiff left the mass venue. TACLOBAN: Wearing a yellow raincoat, Pope Francis waves to the faithful after delivering a mass in Tacloban, Philippines, yesterday. A Torres, whose house two hours’ drive from rain-drenched but lively crowd wearing yellow and white raincoats welcomed Pope Francis in the typhoon-ravage central Philippine city Tacloban was wiped out by storm surges, said of Tacloban early yesterday, chanting “Papa Francesco, Viva il Papa!” —AP the pope’s address had given her “renewed cially when he mentioned that he can relate weather agency and scientists have said. days in the Philippines. hope” even while filling her with pain. to our suffering... everything that we went Huge crowds- Pope-mania was expected to reach a peak “I was overwhelmed with emotion, espe- through came back.” The Philippines has long been the Church’s on Sunday, with organisers expecting him to The pope was due to spend the entire day stronghold in the region, with Catholics attract as many as six million people for mass at in Tacloban and nearby areas that had also accounting for 80 percent of the former a Manila park. If as big as expected, the crowd been destroyed by Haiyan. Spanish colony’s population. will surpass the previous record for a papal However Tropical Storm Mekkhala, which Massive crowds gathered along the pon- gathering of five million during a mass by John was expected to bring much more intense tiff’s motorcade routes during his first two Paul II at the same venue in 1995.—AFP rain to the region in the afternoon, forced the pope to cut short his trip. In the town of Palo, about 12 kilometres (seven miles) from Tacloban, he told a crowd of thousands who had gathered at the main church that he needed to leave quickly to avoid the storm. “So I apologise to you all. I’m sad about this, truly saddened. Because I had something pre- pared especially for you,” he said. His motorcade then raced back to the air- port and he departed shortly after 1:00 pm (0500 GMT), four hours earlier than scheduled. However the main event of the day was the morning mass. The Philippines endures an average of TACLOBAN: A mother and her child wearing about 20 major storms a year, many of them improvised rain covers brave rain and wind deadly. as they wait for the convoy of Pope Francis But the unprecedented strength of Haiyan, to pass by as he travels from Tacloban air- with winds of 315 kilometres an hour, was an port to the town of Palo after celebrating extreme weather event consistent with man- mass yesterday.—AFP made climate change, the United Nations’ Philippine plane following Pope... Continued from Page 1 as the pope gave mass. The pope’s plane took off from Tacloban shortly after 1:00 pm (0500 GMT) The pope was forced to cut short his trip to the and arrived safely back in the capital of Manila. The TACLOBAN : Pope Francis (centre R) speaks to the faithful during his visit to Palo Cathedral area because of intense rains and strong winds plane carrying the presidential aides tried to take in Palo, Leyte, yesterday. Pope Francis braved heavy rain on January 17 to celebrate an from Tropical Storm Mekkhala, which was less than off less than 30 minutes after the pope took off, emotional mass with a sea of weeping survivors of a super typhoon in the Philippines that 150 kilometres (less than 100 miles) from Tacloban according to an AFP reporter at the airport.—AF killed thousands in 2013, saying their pain silenced his heart. —AFP SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2015 3 Divorce ban shows Catholic church power in Philippines MANILA: The courts did not grant Chatto Realuyo a divorce when it allowed her to end her marriage, 10 years after her husband moved out. They can’t. They best they can do is say the marriage never hap- pened. The Philippines is the only country in the world - aside from the Vatican - where divorce is forbidden, a testament to the enduring power of Roman Catholicism that has flourished since Spanish colo- nizers imposed it nearly 500 years ago. Visiting Pope Francis, the church and many of its followers in this Southeast Asian Catholic stronghold of 100 million believe strongly in the indissolubility of marriage. But a growing number of Catholics would support a change. The independent pollster, Social Weather Stations, found in March 2011 that 50 percent of Filipinos surveyed favored divorce for cou- ples already separated so that they can remarry, while 33 percent opposed it.