Ash Wednesday : Local immigrant children pray for families to be reunited

LA priest delivers letters from kids to Pope

Children who attend St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church held a sign that said 'Pope Leo we love you — pray for us'. Their priest Father Mario Torres received an invitation to visit the Holy father and took letters from the kids, which he shared with the pontiff.

LOS ANGELES - Ash Wednesday is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church. But for inner-city school children at Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, this day also symbolizes the freedom and honor they had to write directly to Pope Leo XIV.  Their priest, Pastor Mario Torres, took the handwritten letters of children at the parochial school to the Holy Father in Rome. 

They also created a banner with the words, " Pope Leo We love you, pray for us. " The church took a snap of those simple, heartfelt words, surrounded by smiling children. 

Photos shared with FOX 11 show the pontiff receiving a large white envelope from Father Mario. The envelope contained the picture of the children holding the sign, and also cards and prayer intentions from the elementary school students. 

The LA parish is off of Pico Boulevard and is home to mostly working-class Latino immigrants. Perhaps, not surprisingly, most of the children asked the leader of the Catholic Church for only one thing. They wanted the Holy Father to pray for families to be reunited after the ICE raids, where family members were taken. Some of the children had seen with their own eyes the terror-filled arrests and detainment. Others had just heard about them. But they were scared. So they put those fears down on paper. 

Pope Leo read the letters. He told Father Mario he loved the immigrant community and he would be praying for the school. The words of these school children in Los Angeles had moved the heart of one of the most powerful men in the world.