Huge crowds converged on a Manila park to see Pope Francis wrap up his Asian trip with an outdoor Mass expected to draw one of the largest crowds in Philippine history, and what is believed to be "the largest in the history of the popes".
Pope Francis concluded his trip to Asia on Sunday with an open-air Mass for a rain-drenched crowd in Manila that the Vatican and the government said drew up to seven million people, the largest ever for a papal event.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said that if the predicted figure of six-to-seven million attendees was correct, it would be the "largest event in the history of the popes".
Pope John Paul drew some five million in a visit to the same area in 1995.
The 78-year-old current incumbent, wearing a transparent yellow poncho over his white cassock, was driven through the ecstatic crowd in his "popemobile".
In his homily, he attacked the Filipino government's population control efforts, and urged the nation to shun "social structures which perpetuate poverty, ignorance and corruption".
The Pope hugged a young girl who broke down in tears as she asked why people suffer - a question to which he said there was "no answer".
Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines culminated in a giant outdoor Mass - the largest-ever crowd for a papal event.