The pontiff will leave for his second trip to Asia in just six months this evening.
Francis arrives in Colombo after a surprising presidential election that seen the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa beaten by new President Maithripala Sirisena.
It's thought the Holy Father will bring a message of reconciliation between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority after the country's 25 year civil war which ended in 2009.
Parts of both factions have one thing in common - faith.
During his visit to Sri Lanka the pontiff will canonize Blessed Joseph Vaz - a priest credited with building the Catholic Church in the country.
He'll also host an interreligious meeting as he aims to secure relationships between Christians, Muslims and Buddhists in the country.
MAIN EVENTS
> Meeting new Sri Lankan president
> Canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz
> Open air mass attended by 6 million
> Meeting with survivors of Typhoon Haiyan
On Thursday evening the Pope will fly to the Philippines which will also see unprecedented security with up to 40,000 police and army officers being deployed.
Security concerns for the Philippines leg of his tour are not unexpected considering current tensions between Islam and Christianity in parts of Asia.
In 1970 Pope Paul VI was stabbed in the neck by a man who managed to breech security. He survived with minor injuries.
During Pope John Paul II's visit of 1995 five million Catholics attended an open air mass.
Initial estimates suggest Pope Francis could top that with six million people attending the service.
Revd Gregory Gaston, rector of the Pontifical Filipino College, said: "Now the concern isn't from terrorists, but from the people, because the people love the pope so much, there's the chance they might mob him!"
More than 80 per cent of people in the Philippines are Catholic.
