NEW YORK - Benedict XVI presided over an elaborate mass at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. 57,000 people were in attendance to hear the Pontiff's homily.

This is the Pope's final mass in his historic first visit to the United States. He held a mass at Nationals' Stadium in Washington earlier in the week along with a Youth Rally Saturday at St. Joesph's Seminary in Yonkers, NY and a visit to Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.

The mass lasted about three hours along with performances beforehand, one notable from Harry Conick Jr.

Locally, Cindy Otrupcak of Little Falls said she was fortunate enough to get two tickets for herself and her mother to the mass at Yankee Stadium.

The tickets are just two of 460 that the Albany Diocese was able to hand out. They had more than 3,000 requests, but only received 500 tickets. Forty people had to back out of the trip for one reason or another, but because background information had to be in by a certain time for security reasons, 460 attended.

Otrupcak says she and her mother applied for tickets to see Pope Benedict in November and found out in January they will be able to go. She said beforehand that she expects it will be a very beautiful experience to see the Pope.

Some dignitaries in attendance were Cardinal Edward Egan of the New York Archdiocese, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Patterson.

Pope Benedict XVI will depart back to Vatican City from JFK International Airport this evening. As in most occasions with a dignitary of this magnitude, it will not be without ceremony. It is predicted that some final comments will be made and Vice President Dick Cheney and Cardinal Edward Egan will be on hand to wish the Pontiff farewell.