Pope Francis will arrive in Sri Lanka on January 12 for his second trip to a continent where evangelization is a big priority for the Catholic Church.

The 77-year-old Argentinean First Pope Francis will visit Sri Lanka from January 12 to 15, before heading to the Philippines, Asia’s largest Catholic country, until January 19.

Sources told Asian Mirror that the pope will discuss the ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka and is expected to address the Sri Lankan public on behalf of the Vatican.

Asia had been repeatedly tipped as a destination for possible papal trips as Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI did not travel there during his eight-year pontificate. The continent is considered rich with potential for the Church.

Recently Pope Francis also made a statement requesting the government s of Israel and Hamas to stop the Gaza violence and to live in harmony. The pope insisted that all nationalities and ethnicities should live in harmony in order for this world to flourish.