Rt Rev David Walker said those who would seek to destroy the city's belief in diversity and unity were "the very few" and irrespective of where the victims came from, they were now "Manchester too".
The mourners came together in the centre of Manchester to pay their respects to the 22 people killed leaving an Ariana Grande concert.
They fell silent for five minutes before Lord Mayor of Manchester, Eddy Newman began to speak. He said it was a chance to "express solidarity" with the victims.
Newman also thanked the emergency services, prompting applause from the emotional crowd that spilled from Albert Square on to nearby roads.
Senior figures including Christian Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Speaker John Bercow joined the mayor on stage.
Members of the public wept as they laid flowers and lit candles for those killed by Manchester-born Salman Abedi, 22.
Lu Bowen, 40, brought flowers to lay as a mark of respect with her daughter Lucy. The teenager said: "We felt we wanted to show a sense of solidarity and commitment that Manchester always has."
Tom Buchan, from Heywood also laid flowers after being moved by the death of eight year old Saffie Rose Roussos from Lancashire.
She was confirmed dead after becoming separated from her mother Lisa and sister Ashlee Bromwich, who is in her 20s.
Many other children and young people are among the dead and missing. Desperate parents spent the night searching for missing loved ones, flooding social media with images as they tried to find them.
The first victim named was 18 year old college student Georgina Callander. The "superfan", from Lancashire, met Grande in 2015 and had posted excitedly about the moment on Instagram.
Olivia Campbell, a fifteen year old from Bury, was also killed in the attack.
Her mother paid tribute to her on Facebook writing: "RIP my darling precious gorgeous girl... taken far far too soon go sing with the angels and keep smiling mummy loves you so much."
Friends of 26 year old John Atkinson from Bury paid tributes to him on Facebook as the forth named victim.
Meanwhile, three more men have been arrested in connection with the terror attack, as Britain remains on critical alert amid fears the suicide bomber did not act alone.
Soldiers are being deployed to key sites in London to free up more time for armed police, which is part of the measures that follow the raising of the UK terror threat level to critical.
