line of duty. Francis also kissed the forehead of a 10-year-old boy severely disabled with cerebral palsy.

Also on the itinerary for Saturday: a late-afternoon speech on religious freedom and immigration at Independence Hall, where the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The 78-year-old Argentine was scheduled to speak from the lectern Abraham Lincoln used to deliver the Gettysburg Address.

Francis will be the star attraction at the World Meeting of Families, a conference for more than 18,000 people from around the world. The weekend lineup also included a Saturday night vigil and an outdoor Mass Sunday evening for 1 million people on the broad Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It will be the last major event of the pope's U.S. visit.

On the first two legs of hissix-day U.S. journey, in Washington and New York, Francis was greeted by throngs of cheering, weeping well-wishers hoping for a glance or a touch from the wildly popular spiritual leader, despite unprecedented security.

The Philadelphia visit, which was the original reason for his visit to the U.S., all but paralyzed Center City, with stretches of Broad and Market streets and other routes closed to all but pedestrians and lined with metal crowd-control barricades, massive concrete blocks and tall fences.

That didn't seem to deter his fans.

“He has a magnetic personality that not only appeals to Catholics, but to the universal masses. He's not scripted. He's relatable. His heart, in itself, you can see that reflected through his message,” said Filipina Opena, 46, a Catholic from LaMirada, California, as tour groups