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As many as a million expected for pope’s last Mass in US

Pope Francis embraces a young man in a wheelchair during the World Meeting of Families in the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Philadelphia. Hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics made the pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis on the last leg of his visit to the United States, where they hoped to catch a glimpse of the popular pontiff at some point during his packed schedule — or even receive a blessing or healing touch. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Francis embraces a young man in a wheelchair during the World Meeting of Families in the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Philadelphia. Hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics made the pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis on the last leg of his visit to the United States, where they hoped to catch a glimpse of the popular pontiff at some point during his packed schedule — or even receive a blessing or healing touch. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Pope Francis embraces a young man in a wheelchair during the World Meeting of Families in the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Philadelphia. Hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics made the pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis on the last leg of his visit to the United States, where they hoped to catch a glimpse of the popular pontiff at some point during his packed schedule — or even receive a blessing or healing touch. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

By Associated Press 5 min read

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Greeted by throngs of cheering faithful at every turn, Pope Francis is capping his whirlwind visit to the United States in an entirely fitting way – Mass for the masses on Philadelphia’s grandest boulevard – while also spending time with inmates at its largest jail.

The 78-year-old “people’s pope,” who seems to feed off the energy of the crowds, is expected to see the largest of his six-day tour on Sunday when he celebrates a climactic outdoor Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway before flying back to Rome.

The Mass is the culminating event of a Vatican-sponsored conference on the family that drew the wildly popular pontiff to Philadelphia.

He’ll begin his day by speaking to bishops from around the world before heading to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, where he’ll visit with 100 inmates – a cross-section of suspected killers, rapists, mobsters. He’s expected to offer them words of hope, forgiveness and redemption.

“His mission is the marginalized, the forgotten,” prison spokeswoman Shawn Hawes said. “From our understanding, he wants those who are in custody to know that they are not forgotten and they can be redeemed.”