Pope Wraps Up His Visit To US And Cuba

Pope Francis tweets 'With my heartfelt thanks. May the love of Christ always guide the American people!#GodBlessAmerica' as US trip ends

Pope Francis has departed the US, concluding a tour of three cities – New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia – defined by soaring statements on immigration, climate change, mercy and the importance of families.

The pontiff boarded the chartered Alitalia jet known as Shepherd One at 7.30pm and waved goodbye from the window after a dramatic final day which brought Philadelphia to a standstill.

His tour marked several firsts for the papacy: Francis was the first pope to address a joint sitting of US Congress. He also proclaimed Junipero Serra, a controversial 18th Spaniard who conducted missionary work in California, a saint in the first canonization to occur on US soil.

US President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon received the pontiff warmly during his official duties. Speaker John Boehner, moved to tears during the pope’s address to congress, resigned soon afterwards.

Francis was received with adulation among ordinary Americans, who gathered to cheer in several popemobile-led parades. The Hispanic community, prisoners, undocumented workers and other marginalized groups were given special attention by the pontiff, as were children and Americans with disabilities.

Tight security was an annoyance for both the pope and his fans, preventing many from attending events for which they had tickets.

Protests also attended the pope’s engagements: arrests were made over women’s ordination in Washington DC and many Native Americans were outraged that Serra, described as a brutal colonizer, was made a saint.

Much-anticipated statements on climate change and immigration were well-received by Democrats; Republican Catholics were left in the cold as Francis neglected to give explicit approval to their traditional pro-life causes.

The pope met victims of child abuse in Philadelphia and pledged to bring clerics who committed abuse to justice.

The tour concluded with a mass for an estimated crowd of between 800,000 and one million people on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway.