Soli Salgado

In a city where the 1.3 million practicing Catholics range from multimillionaires to the marginalized, delegates from each parish in the diocese came prepared to share the concerns and recommendations that their fellow parishioners had discussed at earlier parish encuentros.

At St. Mark, the predominantly Hispanic parishioners "open their eyes and hearts and get busy" in ministries that have grown from 10 to 70 in the past three years.

Pope Francis ended his Colombian tour in this city Sept. 10, starting his day by blessing the corner stone of the homeless shelter Talitha Qum at St. Francis Square.

VILLAVICENCIO, COLOMBIA: In a large field about 20 minutes outside the city center, Francis celebrated Mass before 650,000 people, in the city that is one of the country's worst places for violence.

People in Villavicencio, Colombia, where Pope Francis will visit Sept. 8, have prepared for the pontiff by undertaking a pilgrimage with the Cristo de Bojayá, a bombed-out crucifix representing the pain of the country's 50-year war.