Vatican City:
The Vatican has confirmed the dates for Pope Francis' second trip to Asia, a week long visit from January 12th to 19th to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Francis had already announced his intention to visit Sri Lanka and meet with victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which killed around 6,300 people, left another 1,060 missing and devastated parts of the central Philippines last year.
The Vatican press office said today that Francis would visit Sri Lanka from January 12-15, and spend the rest of the days in the Philippines. The full program will be released later.
Francis will become the first pope in nearly two decades to visit the Far East when he travels to South Korea from August 14-18. He has said he wants to visit Asia since Pope Benedict XVI never went there.