Pope Francis is wrapped up his Jan. 12-19 Asia tour with his final visit to Manila, Philippines, which is said to be Asia's largest Catholic nation.

The main purpose of this Asia visit was to emphasize his concerns over issues such as poverty, climate change, environment and inter-religious dialogue. During his stay in the Philippines, he visited Tacloban, located in the central province of Leyte, where Typhoon Haiyan killed 6,300 people in 2013.

The Pope entered the capital city of Manila amid massive security detail, given the history of assassination attempts on previous Catholic heads who paid visits during their tenures. Around 50,000 soldiers were deployed for the safety of the Pope, and Philippine President Benigno Aquino himself had inspected the routes and venues in the capital region, a day before the visit, reported Reuters.

For security measures, the government declared a three-day public holiday to clear traffic in the capital city.
The pope was greeted by tens of thousands of people who lined the streets of Manila, waiting for hours together to see the Pope.

Addressing the crowd, the Pope said, "My visit now culminates in this celebration of mass, in which we implore from God the grace of peace and reconciliation," reported the Wall Street Journal.

While on his visit, the Pope addressed various issues such as good governance and ending corruption as well as called on the leaders to show integrity, end corruption and stop scandalous social inequalities.

"The great biblical tradition enjoins on all peoples the duty to hear the voice of the poor. It bids us break the bonds of injustice and oppression which give rise to glaring, and indeed scandalous, social inequalities," the pope said in the speech at the presidential palace, according to the BBC.

Pope Francis is the fourth pontiff to visit the Phillippines.