Students take in pope's Mass in Philly with clear view of pontiff: "Seeing him in the flesh, there aren't words"

HARTLAND -- Pope Francis' six-day visit to the United States came to an end on Sunday, September 27th -- but it was a final full day for the pontiff  -- beginning Sunday morning with a meeting with bishops in Philadelphia and ending Sunday evening with a farewell ceremony at Philadelphia International Airport, before Pope Francis entered the plane that would take him home to Rome.

Many from southeastern Wisconsin have taken an interest in the pope's visit -- whether flying out to the East Coast to be there in person, or just watching his events from home.

It was an historic six days, as Pope Francis made his first ever visit to the United States.

At an evening Mass in Hartland on Sunday, Father Paul Hartmann reflected on Pope Francis' visit.

"It has been a wonderful week. If we learned anything this week from the wonderful visit of Pope Francis it`s that we should always keep listening," Hartmann said.

Hartmann says he encourages his congregation to go beyond the soundbites and the headlines and to look deeper into Pope Francis' message.

"This is a call to study what he says, a call to understand the next part of the sentence, the next part of the paragraph," Hartmann said.

Prior to celebrating Mass before hundreds of thousands of people in Philadelphia, Pope Francis visited with inmates at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.

Attending his Mass late on Sunday afternoon was a group of Marquette University students. Dan Barrett and Aaron Tyler McCoy planned to watch Mass from a jumbotron out on the street on Sunday -- but they actually ended up inside the Mass, with a clear view of Pope Francis.

"You`re almost dumbfounded by the presence of someone that`s so influential," Barrett said.

"Seeing him in the flesh -- there aren`t words for it," McCoy said.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these students to hear Pope Francis speak in person -- as many did the same back here in Wisconsin, watching on TV.

Father Hartmann says Pope Francis may say things that make people and politicians uncomfortable, but his messages are always rooted in traditional Catholic teachings.

"I think one of the misunderstandings of Francis is where he says we need to meet people where they are. Well, we don`t stop there. We actually meet them where they are and then we draw them into the church," Hartmann said.

Father Hartmann says anyone with an open heart can draw something from Pope Francis' visit. He hasn't met this pope himself, but he did get to meet Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict. He said it's always an awe-inspiring moment.