Pope Francis heads to Philadelphia today, where his last two days in the United States will be spent visiting ordinary Catholics and promoting the issue of religious freedom.
The pontiff will celebrate Mass in the city is at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the largest brownstone structure in Philadelphia and the largest Catholic church in Pennsylvania. He's also scheduled to visit St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and Independence Hall, where he will deliver a speech.
Later, he will be the featured guest at the World Meeting of Families conference with some 18,000 attendees.
On Sunday, his last day on U.S. soil, he will celebrate outdoor Mass, expected to draw 1.5 million people.
As The Associated Press reports: "As he has done in New York and Washington, he will give his attention to both the elite and the disadvantaged, this time visiting inmates in Philadelphia's largest jail. On Saturday night, he will be serenaded by Aretha Franklin and others on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at a festival celebrating families. He will return there Sunday for the Mass, his last major event before leaving for Rome."
The trip to Philadelphia follows the pope's travels to Washington, D.C. and New York. In the nation's capital, he addressed a joint meeting of Congress, urging law makers to cooperate to solve problems such as inequality of opportunity and climate change – themes that he echoed and expanded on at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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