Hundreds of thousands people welcomed Pope Francis on his first visit to the Philippines, Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation amid what is certainly one of the biggest security operations in Philippine history.  An estimated 37,000 police and military personnel are being deployed in the areas he will visit.

Church bells rang throughout the Philippines to welcome the pope as he arrived at the Manila airport in gusty weather.  The Pope’s trip has set off a wave of religious fervor across the Phillipines, Asia’s largest Roman Catholic country where where 80 percent of the 100 million population are Catholics.  Government and religious leaders have been preparing for months for the visit, but none have been working harder than police.  One reason, this Pope likes to travel without the bulletproof glass, unlike his predecessors.

They won’t say so, but police officials are well aware of the two assassinations on past Popes who’ve come to the Philippines.  In 1970, a Bolivian man dressed as a priest stabbed and slightly wounded Pope Paul VI upon his arrival at Manilla Airport.  In 1995, Al Qaeda members, including the mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, plotted to kill Pope John Paul II – but a fire in an apartment in Manila led to the discovery of the bomb plot days before the former Karol Wojyla’s successful visit.

President Benigno Aquino says there was no known threat in the country to Francis’ life, but security officials were not taking any chances.