Pope Prays for Philippines after Killer Typhoon

Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday issued a call for "brotherly solidarity" with the Philippines after a typhoon killed at least 500 people and left tens of thousands homeless in the south of what is Asia's bastion of Catholicism.

The pontiff said during his weekly Angelus address that he felt "close to the people of the Philippines affected" by Typhoon Bopha, which forecasters said would turn back towards the country and hit again early Sunday.

"I pray for the victims, their families and the many homeless," he said, adding that he hoped faith and Christian charity would help the country get through the ordeal.

At least 548 people were killed and about 500 others are missing after Bopha smashed into the east coast of the southern island of Mindanao with gusts of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) an hour on Tuesday.

Around 212,000 other people have also been left homeless, according to the civil defense office.

On Saturday, the state weather service said the typhoon would slam into the northern tip of the main island of Luzon early Sunday, bringing heavy rainfall to the area.

The Philippines is Asia's largest Catholic outpost, with 80 percent of the population adherents to the faith thanks to more than three centuries of Spanish rule that began in the 1500s.