Local Catholics celebrate Mass with pope in Philadelphia

Earlier Sunday, the pope met with victims of child sexual abuse, telling them he is “deeply sorry” for the times they came forward to tell their story and weren’t believed.

Pope Francis celebrates his final mass of his visit to the United States at the Festival of Families on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 27, 2015. “Those who covered up these things are guilty too, including some bishops“.

Pope Francis ended his first trip to America by meeting with victims of clergy sexual abuse and promising all responsible would be held accountable.

Francis praised the victims as “true heralds of mercy” who deserve the church’s gratitude, and said sex abuse in the church can no longer be kept a secret. I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm. “Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children”.

“Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right”, Francis said.

“To raise doubts about the working of the Spirit, to give the impression that it can not take place in those who are not ‘part of our group, ‘ who are not ‘like us, ‘ is a risky temptation”, the pope said.

“May children find in us models of communion, not of division”, he said. He said a honest prayer in their remembrance at the Memorial and condemned the mindset that only recognises violence, before driving past scores of people at the Central Park.

For the duration of his nine-day tour, everywhere he went in Cuba, Washington, New York and Philadelphia, enormous crowds lined the streets, cheering his name in a nod to his global stature and moral authority.

If not for President Obama inviting LGBT people to the Pope’s White House visit, we may have been completely invisible.

“The words of the past can help us work toward a better future”, Pope Francis said in front of an admiring crowd.

In his in-flight press conference, Francis recalled being told by a woman, in another meeting with victims, that her mother “cursed God and died an atheist” after discovering what had been done to her daughter.

“To have a pope directly acknowledge that the church made a mistake not just for the crime but for the cover-up and he is determined to fix both, I think there’s significance there”, Allen added.

Francis has emphasized outreach to the poor, to immigrants and those on the margins of society throughout his first visit to the United States.