In Arquata del Tronto, Pope Francis he greeted more than 100 people, speaking breifly to them and praying with them before visiting a school that has been set up in the tent camps.
Francis told the people that he carries them in his heart, and knows of their "suffering and your anguish."
"I also know of your deaths and I am with you and because of this I wanted to be here," he said, and led the group in praying a Hail Mary for both the survivors, and those who "went to heaven."
"Have courage, always go forward, always forward," he said, adding that "times will change and you will be able to move forward. I am close to you, I am with you."
In the afternoon the Pope made the final stop in his visit to the earthquake zones, pausing in San Pellegrino di Norcia, in Umbria, where he prayed in the "red zone" in front of the church of S. Pellegrino, which was badly damaged during the quake.
Accompanied by the Archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia, Renato Boccardo, he greeted the people gathered, telling them "I have been close to you and I feel very close in the moment of sadness, and I pray for you and I ask the Lord to give you the strength to go forward."
He led them in praying the Hail Mary before set out for Rome at 3:30p.m.
On Sunday while on board his return flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Rome, Pope Francis said that three dates had been proposed to him, and that while he didn't remember the first two, one was the first Sunday of Advent, and that he needed "to choose" the date he wanted to go.
Regardless of the day, Francis said he wanted to make the visit "privately, alone, as a priest, as a bishop, as Pope, but alone, that's how I want to do it. I would like to be close to the people."
Close to 300 people were killed when a 6.2-magnitude quake hit the town of Norcia Aug. 24, at 3:36a.m. with several strong aftershocks following. Out of those who died, more than 230 were from Amatrice.
At one point after the initial quake, the mayor of Amatrice, one of the worst-hit areas, said "the town is gone."
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The day of the earthquake Pope Francis was scheduled to hold his weekly general audience, however, instead of giving his usual catechesis, he put the speech aside and led those present in praying a rosary for the victims of the earthquake.
In his Aug. 28 Angelus address, the Pope expressed his "spiritual closeness to the inhabitants of Lazio, delle Marche and Umbria, which have been greatly affected by the recent earthquake."
He offered special closeness to the people of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata and Pescara del Tronto and Norcia, telling them that "the Church shares their suffering and their concern."
Rumors have circulated in the media saying that Pope Francis could stop in Assisi while on his way back to the Vatican to mark the Oct. 4 feast his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, but it has yet to be confirmed.