Pope Francis wraps up joyful US visit with big open-air Mass

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis urged hundreds of thousands of the faithful gathered Sunday for the biggest event of his U.S. visit to be open to “miracles of love,” closing out his six-day tour with a message of hope for families, consolation for victims of child sexual abuse and a warning to America’s bishops.

Organizers had predicted a crowd of 1 million for Francis’ open-air Mass, and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway overflowed with the jubilant. They endured hours-long lines and airport-style security checks to see history’s first pope from the Americas in the birthplace of the United States.

The Mass — the final event on Francis’ itinerary before the 78-year-old pontiff was to return to Rome — was a brilliant tableau of gold, green and white in the slanted evening sunlight of a mild early-autumn day.

Riding through the streets in his open-sided popemobile, the pontiff waved to cheering, screaming, singing, flag-waving crowds as he made his way to the altar at the steps of the columned Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Francis told his listeners that their presence itself was “a kind of miracle in today’s world,” an affirmation of the family and the power of love.