As expected, Pope Francis broke the record set by Pope John Paul II in the size of crowd that attended the final mass of his five-day pastoral visit to the Philippines on Sunday.

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino said around 6 million people attended the two-hour mass amid the drenching rain since morning due to Typhoon Amang, reports Fox News.

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The number broke the 5 million record established 20 years ago by Pope John Paul II in the vigil mass of the World Youth Day celebration hosted by Manila. They celebrated mass at the same venue - the Quirino Grandstand which has the Manila Bay as its background.

The record-breaking crowd is not limited to the Luneta Park which faces the grandstand but includes the people who have spilled out on the adjoining streets. Most of the people have been there since sunrise to get good spots even if the mass was at 3 p.m.

Majority of the attendees were in yellow raincoats given by the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines to comply with the requirement set by the papal visit security committee to ban umbrellas which could potentially be a cover for a deadly weapon.

The mass coincided with the feast of the Child Jesus or Santo Nino, as the baby Jesus is popularly called in the Philippines. Fittingly, the pontiff dedicated the mass to children who now comprise the bulk of the Philippine population of 101 million.

Pope Francis said in his homily, "We need to see each child as a gift to be welcomed, cherished and protected. And we need to care for our young people, not allowing them to be robbed of hope and condemned to a life on the streets."

His focus on children is a continuation of the Holy Father's encounter with the youth at the University of Santo Tomas on Sunday morning when he almost wept hearing the pained cry of 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar, a former street child, asking, "Why is God allowing something like this happen, even to innocent children? And why are there so few who are helping us?"

Pope Francis admitted he has no answer to that question, but urged Filipinos to learn how to weep to come close to finding an answer to the girl's question.

Ironically, before Pope Francis came, photos of street children caged in iron bars were shared over social media sites, claiming these kids were rounded up by the Department of Social Welfare so the pope, who came to provide solace and hope to the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and the poor, won't see them.

TagsPope Francis, Papal visit