PHILADELPHIA (PA)
GlobalPost
By Scott Malone and Philip Pullella
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Pope Francis confronted the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy on the final day of his first U.S. visit on Sunday, meeting with five adults abused as children and vowing to hold accountable those involved in the crimes and cover-ups.
The pope left the United States on Sunday night, departing from Philadelphia International Airport on an American Airlines flight to Rome. He was seen off by a number of dignitaries, including Vice President Joe Biden.
Wrapping up the six-day U.S. trip, the 78-year-old Argentine pope celebrated Mass outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a neoclassical edifice astride a rocky hill overlooking the Schuylkill River, before the largest crowd of his visit. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said the crowd numbered more than a million.
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