Philadelphia mayor says media scared people from seeing pope

US President Barack Obama talks with Pope Francis during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, September 23, 2015.

Dotty Robinson echoed her daughter’s description of “good spirits all over”.

Jericho Ponce, 44, said the challenge struck him.

Pope Francis has met victims of clergy sex abuse and vowed to hold responsible all involved in abuse and cover-ups, he said in Philadelphia on Sunday, the last day of his first visit to the United States.

The pope earlier met with 71 prisoners – 60 men and 11 women in blue prison garb – who were among the approximately 2,800 inmates at Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility, a drab compound in Philadelphia’s northeastern outskirts with barbed wire topping its outer walls. “I will continue to fight for you until my last breath”.

On the flight back to Rome, the pope was asked if he supported individuals, including government officials, who refuse to abide by a few laws, such as issuing marriage licenses to gays.

Pope Francis celebrated an open-air Mass on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the people gathered on the tree-lined boulevard. The victims need to see a true move towards accountability, so that the message of acceptance that this Pope is preaching is not undermined by instances of sexual assault within the church he is preaching to.

Pope Francis kisses a baby “pope” on his way to the Independence Mall in Philadelphia on Saturday.

“Would that all could all be prophets of God’s Word!” he said, “Would that everyone could work miracles in the Lord’s name!” the Pope exclaimed.

Francis calls us again and again to a ministry of encounter, to meet people where they are, especially those who seem to find themselves on the edge of society, and to bring healing where it is most needed so that all people thrive. “This itself is something prophetic, a kind of miracle in today’s world“, he said. Let’s remember, too, Arlette Figdore’s hope that we restore a more human touch to our interactions with one another. As long as they are alright the plight of others is of no concern.

“I was so overwhelmed, I’m still overwhelmed”, Nance said after the Mass. “It has been such a blessing and it has been so surreal to see him so close”. “That was the most exciting four seconds of my life”, she said.

“Just a attractive experience”, Carol said.

“Very jubilant to see the pope. I’m just really happy that I did”. He said it’s always an awe-inspiring moment.