Pope Francis presided over Mass at Madison Square Garden Friday night, the final papal event in a whirlwind day that took him from Harlem to the World Trade Center site and numerous locations in between.
After two days apiece in Washington, D.C. and New York City, the pope next heads to Philadelphia on Saturday morning for the final two days of his historic U.S. trip.
In front of 18,000 parishioners at MSG, Pope Francis reiterated one of the themes of his trip: that immigrants and marginalized people should be made to feel welcome.
He also called attention to "children who go without schooling, those deprived without medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly."
Having spent the day criss-crossing Manhattan, the pope praised big cities for their diversity and culture.
"God is living in our cities. The Church is living in our cities," he said.
However, he also warned that they can make people feel unwanted and unappreciated.
"God frees us from anonymity, from a life of emptiness," he said.
The pope's words were designed to give voice to the voiceless. He referenced foreigners, their children, those without medical insurance, the homeless and the forgotten elderly.
"These people stand at the edges of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity," he said.
Pope Francis then spoke of Jesus being a part of his people's lives, filling those lives with hope.
"A hope which liberates us from the forces pushing us to isolation and lack of concern for the lives of others," he said.
Friday's Mass capped off a day that saw the pope address the United Nations General Assembly, lead a gathering at the 9/11 Memorial, visit a school in East Harlem, and travel by motorcade through Central Park.
Tickets to the MSG event were primarily distributed to parishes within the Archdiocese of New York, with a limited number distributed to the other dioceses in New York State.
Other Catholic organizations and institutions throughout the New York archdiocese also received tickets for distribution to their members.