Pope Francis' plane takes off after 10-day visit

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- - Pope Francis is on his way back to the Vatican after a 10-day trip to Cuba and the United States.

The pope's chartered American Airlines plane took off tonight hours after Francis celebrated Mass for hundreds of thousands of people in downtown Philadelphia.

The Mass capped a day that included his speaking with sex abuse survivors and jail inmates. It was the culmination of a trip that also featured addresses to Congress and the United Nations.

The 78-year-old spent six days with packed itineraries in Washington, New York and Philadelphia after a four-day visit to Cuba.

Francis announced that the next World Meeting of Families will be in 2018 in Dublin. The event in Philadelphia this week was the original reason he came on the trip.