Pope Francis attended a prayer service at Sacred Heart Church, Manama on Sunday morning, before concluding his milestone visit to Bahrain.
The leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics prayed with bishops, priests and pastoral workers around 9.30am local time.
At lunchtime, he bid farewell to the island nation, which has been in the global spotlight during the pontiff's four-day visit.
Earlier on Saturday, he celebrated Mass with tens of thousands of worshippers at the Bahrain National Stadium, south of Manama. This is only the second time that a pope has visited the Arabian Gulf, following Pope Francis's visit to Abu Dhabi in 2019.
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Pope Francis thanks Bahrain's king
Pope reflects on Bahrain visit as he departs for Rome
Pope Francis leads Sunday service at Bahrain's Sacred Heart Church
Worshippers reach out to touch Pope Francis as he departs
Pope Francis leads Bahrain's faithful in prayer
Pope Francis has led the Sunday service at Sacred Heart Church in Manama.
The pontiff noted that many of the worshippers are Catholics from Lebanon, and the congregation burst into applause as he offered his prayers for their embattled homeland. Here is his service:
"Dear bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, seminarians and pastoral workers, good morning.
"I am pleased to be here, in the midst of this Christian community that clearly manifests its Catholic face: a universal face, a church made up of people from various parts of the world who come together to profess our one faith in Christ.
'Small flock of faithful migrants'
"Yesterday, Bishop Hinder – whom I thank for his service and his words of introduction – talked about 'a small flock made up of migrants'.
"In greeting you, then, my thoughts also turn to the peoples from whom you come, to your dear families, whom you remember with a touch of nostalgia, and to your countries of origin.
"In particular, since I see that some of you are from Lebanon, I assure you of my prayers and closeness to your beloved country, so weary and sorely tried, as well as to all peoples suffering in the Middle East.
"It is beautiful to be part of a Church composed of different histories and different faces that find their harmony in the one face of Jesus.
Work with underprivileged
"And this variety – as I have seen in these days – is a mirror of this country, of the people who dwell here in it, but also of its landscape that, though mostly desert, boasts a rich variety of plants and living creatures."
Pope Francis also acknowledged the work done by the parish with prisoners and the underprivileged.
He spoke of how important it was to spend time with “brothers in need”.
“This is something for which we should be grateful," he said.
"The prophecy that builds up and consoles those prisoners is our sharing time with them, breaking open the word of God and praying with them. It is our showing concern for them."
The Pope also prayed for an end to the conflict in Ethiopia and the Ukrainian- Russian war.
Pope to pray at Sunday service in final Bahrain event
Pope Francis will make a final engagement on Sunday morning before concluding his milestone visit to Bahrain.
He is expected this morning at Sacred Heart Church in Manama.
Fr Charbel Fayad, who ministers to the Arabic-speaking community at Sacred Heart, told The National that worshippers had been energised by the pontiff's visit.
"We are full of life, full of communion, full of faith" he said.
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Pope Francis finishes Sacred Heart School visit
Pope Francis has concluded his visit to Sacred Heart School in Bahrain.
The pontiff met teachers and pupils at the school.
The visit was the final item on the Pope's agenda for Saturday evening.
On Sunday morning, Pope Francis will meet bishops, priests and pastoral workers at Sacred Heart Church.
He will then depart for Rome in the afternoon.
Bishop Paul Hinder thanks Pope Francis for his visit
The former Apostolic Vicar for Southern Arabia has thanked Pope Francis for his visit to Bahrain.
“It shows your pastoral care for a tiny Church in a tiny country, but a Church full of vitality,” said Bishop Paul Hinder.
He spoke about the Pope’s meeting with Muslim religious leaders from Bahrain and other countries, which was held to help communities better understand each other.
“You are not afraid to build bridges with the Muslim world and to show your fraternal closeness to all people of goodwill regardless of their cultural background and religious belief,” he said.
Bawling babies and little children blessed by the Pope
Pope Francis blesses Mark Metry, 4, at Bahrain National Stadium. Marco Bertorello / AFP
It was a special moment for some Catholic families when his vehicle stopped and Pope Francis blessed young children before a Mass in Bahrain.
Some of the babies cried when security personnel held them up to the Pope, who was in the popemobile ― as his official car is known.
He chuckled and gently kissed the little ones.
There were close to 30,000 people at the Bahrain National Stadium on Saturday for the second public Mass celebrated in the Gulf region by the head of the Roman Catholic church.
Hala Fayez, a Bahraini parliamentarian, was holding her grandson Mark Metry when the Pope noticed the 4-year-old and stood up in the open white vehicle.
“It felt like I was holding the whole world in my hands,” she said.
Meet the people celebrating Mass with the Pope in Bahrain
Bahrain's faithful thrilled by open air Mass
Bahrain's Catholics reflected on a once-in-a-lifetime experience on Saturday following an open air Mass for nearly 30,000 people led by Pope Francis.
“An opportunity to attend a Mass with the pope... I was very excited to see him in person” said Endurance Ighodalo, a Nigerian petroleum company employee in Saudi Arabia who travelled to Bahrain with his wife and son.
“To see this kind of Mass with pope Francis.... it’s one of a kind” said Rachel Cruz, Filipino working in retail in Bahrain.
'We need to keep loving, always'
Pope Francis frequently touches on ending the war and conflict that is all around us.
‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth... that would be to exact justice by using the same weapons of evil used on us," he said.
“Peace cannot be restored if a harsh word is answered with an even harsher one, if one slap leads to another. No, we need to disarm, to shatter the chains of evil, to break the spiral of violence, and to put an end to resentment, complaints and self-pity,” he said.
Pope Francis' sermon touches on struggle of daily lives
The Pope's address to the crowd focused on the challenge that the faithful face every day.
As with many sermons given by the pontiff, he settled for plain and easy to understand language.
"Jesus’s vision is completely practical; he does not say it will be easy, and he is not talking about sentimental or romantic love, as if in our human relationships there will not be any moments of conflict or grounds for hostility among peoples," Pope Francis said.
"Jesus is not idealistic, but realistic: he speaks explicitly of 'evil' and 'enemies'.
"He knows that within our relationships there is a daily struggle between love and hatred.
"Within our hearts too, there is a daily clash between light and darkness: between our many resolutions and desires, and the sinful weakness that often takes over and drags us into doing evil.
"He also knows that, for all our generous efforts, we do not always receive the good we expect and indeed sometimes, incomprehensibly, we suffer evil.
"What is more, he suffers when he sees in our own day and in many parts of the world, ways of exercising power that feed on oppression and violence, seeking to expand their own space by restricting that of others, imposing their own domination and restricting basic freedoms, and in this way oppressing the weak.
"And so, Jesus says, conflict, oppression and enmity exist among us."