VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will appeal for donations for the typhoon-wracked Philippines as he winds up the Vatican's "Year of Faith" in a Saint Peter's Square ceremony on Sunday, the Vatican said.

“The pope will ask everyone from cardinals to the simple faithful" to donate aid money for the Philippines, Archbishop Rino Fisichella told a news conference on yesterday.

The weekend ceremony, expected to attract tens of thousands of people, will feature the first-ever public display of remains believed to be those of Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ who is considered to be the first pope and founder of the Catholic Church.

The bones were discovered in a 1940 archaeological dig next to an ancient monument honoring Saint Peter. In 1968, Pope Paul VI said scientific tests concluded with "high probability" that the bones were those of Peter.

The "Year of Faith", a Benedict XVI initiative, began on October 11, 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vatican II Council, which approved key Catholic Church reforms.

The project's principle aim was to tackle the decline of religious practice in the developed world, particularly in Europe.

Meanwhile, the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, CAFOD, along with the 13 other charities under the UK Disasters Emergency Committee have raised more than £ 30 million since the “Philippines Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) Appeal” was launched.

In his homily during a special mass offered for the Philippines, The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, also said that he has sent a special envoy, Bishop John Arnold, to convey the support and prayers of the community in Britain to the Philippines.

Filipino and British Catholics gathered at the Westminster Cathedral on November 15 for a special mass offered by Archbishop Nichols to the Filipino community and for the victims of “Haiyan”.

Nichols said “the Filipino community here enriches our country greatly by your faith, your prayers and your work. We salute you and all you do here and we stand by you in this hour of need.”

He also stated that he has asked Bishop John Arnold to “go to the Philippines to carry our love and our prayers to your country in this time of need.”

He also thanked CAFOD for its impressive response to the typhoon appeal. CAFOD is part of the DEC’s 14 charities which has raised more than £23 million in the first 48 hours alone of the appeal’s launch.

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