10:30 a.m.

Pope Francis has touched down in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, greeted by hundreds of people in bleachers set up at the city's airport.

It's the final stop on a whirlwind five-day visit to the country, and it's expected to be one of the most dramatic as the pope tackles issues of violence and immigration from an altar set up right along the U.S. border.

The faithful have been streaming along the city's closed-off streets to reach the site of the Mass, walking in pairs or in extended families, some bundled against the early morning cold.

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10:25 a.m.

The temporary altar where Pope Francis is to celebrate an open-air Mass is snug against the U.S.-Mexico border — with just a highway between its edge on the Rio Grande.

The skyline of El Paso, Texas, is clearly visible and on Tuesday a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter was so close it seemed to nearly fly over the altar while making a low, lazy path above the Rio Grande.

Venders are hawking papal memorabilia — from yellow and white flags to baseball caps and t-shirts with the pontiff's likeness.

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9:15 a.m.

The airline that carried Pope Francis to Mexico says the plane carrying the pontiff was hit by a laser light from the ground as it arrived on Friday.

Alitalia says no one was hurt and the aircraft landed safely. It said Wednesday that the crew notified the Mexico City airport's control tower of the incident.

Officials around the world have been increasingly concerned about people training laser pointers on jetliners. In some cases, crewmembers have suffered eye damage.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reported nearly 4,000 laser strikes in 2013.

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9:00 a.m.

Pope Francis has ended his vist to Mexico's capital with a final mariachi serenade. But he's still got major events on today's schedule for northern Mexico.

The Mexican Navy's mariachi band saw him away with a specially composed number: "Pope Francis, this isn't farewell, it's only see you later. May God bless you."

And then he boarded a jet for the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

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7:20 a.m.

Pope Francis is wrapping up his trip to Mexico on Wednesday with some of his most anticipated events. Those include a visit to a Ciudad Juarez prison just days after a riot in another lockup killed 49 inmates. He'll also stop at the Texas border at a moment when immigration is a hot issue for the U.S. presidential campaign.

The pope has left his lodgings at the papal nuncio's residence in Mexico City for the last time on this visit after a farewell serenade by mariachis. He's beaming and waving to thick crowds along the streets as he heads to the airport in his popemobile to catch a flight to the northern border metropolis of Juarez. After the stop there, he'll fly home to Rome.

Francis' final events cap a whirlwind five-day visit that focused heavily on the injustices faced by Mexico's poorest, most oppressed and vulnerable to the country's drug-fueled violence.