Bangkok: Pope Francis cut short his visit to typhoon-hit Tacloban on the Philippine island of Leyte on Saturday as another storm churned across the Pacific towards the Philippines.

"I apologise to you all," the Pope told 150,000 rain-soaked worshippers in an open field where he celebrated mass.

"I am sad about this, truly sad, because I had something prepared especially for you," he said.

Worshippers standing in puddles, some of whom cried when they saw the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, appeared to take the news in a good humoured way, reporters in the crowd said.

The approaching Typhoon Mekkhala with wind gusts up to 150 kilometres per hour was an eerie reminder of Super Typhoon Haiyan that hit the central Philippine islands on 8 November, 2013, leaving 7300 people dead or missing and displacing 4 million mostly poor Filipinos.

The papal plane left Tacloban for Manila four hours earlier than scheduled.

Pope Francis had promised to provide comfort for survivors of Haiyan, the strongest storm on record. "I'm a little late. I made it," Pope Francis told ecstatic devotees after arriving in Tacloban.

The papal plane had flown to the city early Saturday from Manila, where Francis's blunt comments on corruption and social inequality on Friday caused tensions with powerful politicians.

President Benigno Aquino complained the Catholic Church, a powerful institution in a country with 75 million Catholics, had been overly critical of him and silent about abuses of past political leaders.

"There was a true test of faith when many members of the church, once advocates for the poor, the marginalised, and the helpless, suddenly became silent in the face of previous administration's abuses which we are still trying to rectify to this day," Mr Aquino said.

"In these attempts at correcting the wrongs of the past, one would think that the church would be the natural ally."

Mr Aquino clashed with church leaders last year, primarily over a law that would provide free birth control devices to women. The church opposes the law.

Critics denounced Mr Aquino's comments as inappropriate during the five-day papal visit where millions of people have greeted 78-year-old Francis.

The arrival of the Pope amid wild weather in Tacloban, 650 kilometres south-east of Manila, followed his declaration on Thursday that man was primarily responsible for climate change and that negotiators should "show courage" at the next round of climate change talks in Paris in November.

The Pope made visiting Tacloban where he had lunch with survivors a priority of his visit to the Philippines.

"In a particular way, this visit is meant to express my closeness to our brothers and sisters who endured the suffering, loss and devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda," Francis said, referring to Haiyan by its local name.

The Pope praised the "heroic strength, faith and resilience" shown by the Philippines as well as the solidarity people demonstrated after the typhoon.

On Sunday the biggest papal crowd ever is expected to celebrate mass with the Pope in a waterfront park in Manila.