DHAKA: Pope Francis is heading to the Philippines for a five-day visit keenly awaited by the nation’s 80 million Roman Catholics.

The highlight will be a huge open air Mass in the capital, Manila, on Sunday, reports the BBC.

Other engagements include a visit to Tacloban to meet survivors of a devastating typhoon in November 2013.

Security will be tight after failed attempts to kill two previous Popes. Tens of thousands of soldiers and police have been deployed.

Pope Francis, the fourth pontiff to visit the Philippines, is traveling from Sri Lanka, where he called for unity in the conflict-hit nation and canonised its first saint.

Church bells will toll across the nation when he arrives in Manila at about 17:45 local time (09:45 GMT).

Eighty percent of the nation’s 100 million people are Catholic. Huge crowds are expected at each stage of the visit.

A three-day public holiday has been declared in the capital to clear the traffic.

‘Every step he makes, every car ride he takes, every moment he stays with us is precious for us,’ said Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. ‘Seeing him pass by is a grace’.

On Friday he meets president Benigno Aquino and celebrates Mass in Manila Cathedral.

BDST: 1054 HRS, JAN 15, 2015