Prelate sets proposal for Pope Francis' Tacloban visit

MANILA, Philippines -A Vatican official is preparing a proposal to ask  Pope Francis to  visit Philippine communities ravaged by Supertyphoon Yolanda, a churchman said Tuesday.

Palo Archbishop John Du said the report will be submitted to the Roman Pontiff after Robert Cardinal Sarah, a Guinean prelate, visited Tacloban as the Pope's special envoy.

"He will come, we will be praying for that. That’s why we are so blessed. 'Yolanda' is (still) a blessing to us," Du said in a state news report, adding that the Pope wishes to Sarah to extend his message of solidarity to the typhoon victims--most of whom are Catholics.

Sarah, who is also chief of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum for human and Christian development, had told the Filipino church officials that the Pope is deeply concerned about the situation in disaster areas, Du said.

There are no dates yet for the planned trip, however, but Francis was reported to be traveling to Asia this year and will possibly include the Philippines in his itinerary within the year or in 2015.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said in a previous report that the Pope will likely grace the International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Cebu City in 2016.

Read: Vatican official: 'Cebu a good choice' for Pope's visit

Sarah, meanwhile, officiated Holy Mass to a hospital dedicated to the poor in Tacloban. He also distributed food packs at a mission church in Libertad, Palo and broke the ground for a proposed orphanage.