• Hija de inmigrante pide al Papa Francisco que interceda por familias de indocumentados ante Obama
    March 27, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    ROMA, 27 Mar. 14 / 05:51 pm (ACI).- La pequeña Jersey Vargas, de 10 años de edad, viajó desde Estados Unidos hasta el Vaticano para reunirse con el Papa Francisco y pedirle que interceda ante el presidente Barack Obama para que no deporten a su padre indocumentado, a quien no ve desde hace más de dos años.

  • Panorama City Girl Makes Heartfelt Plea to Pope Francis – Kacey Montoya Reports
    March 27, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    A 10-year-old Panorama City girl met Pope Francis and asked him to raise the issue of immigation reform when he meets President Barack Obama on Thursday. Kacey Montoya reports for the KTLA 5 News at 10 p.m. on March 26, 2014.

  • Girl, 10, Asks Pope to Help Immigrant Father – Lynette Romero Reports
    March 27, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    Jersey Vargas, of Panorama City, traveled to the Vatican to ask Pope Francis to talk to President Obama about immigration reform. The 10-year-old’s father had been detained after he was caught driving without a valid license. Lynette Romero reports from the KTLA Newsroom for the KTLA 5 Morning News on Thursday, March 27, 2014.

  • L.A. Catholics present pope with letters from undocumented children
    March 26, 2014  |  Around the ADLA  |  No Comment

    Ten-year-old Jersey Vargas met Pope Francis today.

    Vargas joined a coalition from Southern California that journeyed to Vatican City to deliver letters from children with undocumented parents written to the Holy Father.

    In her letter, Vargas wrote how she’d spent her last two birthdays without her father, who has been in custody with U.S. immigration officials. She told the pope about her father in person today after the general audience at St. Peter’s Basilica.

  • At the Cathedral: Fresh insights, inspired by faith
    March 26, 2014  |  Around the ADLA  |  No Comment

    Graham Student Art Exhibit offers high school youth a showcase for their artistic talent.

    Louisville High School senior Nathalie Moreno has applied to the University of Southern California to pursue a career in fine arts. On the afternoon of March 23, she was thrilled to learn that renowned artist Gayle Garner Roski — for whom USC’s Roski School of Art and Design is named — would back her with a letter of recommendation.

    Garner Roski is a member of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels’ fine arts committee and a strong promoter of the fourth annual Robert Graham Memorial Student Art Exhibit, which opened March 23 and runs through May 4. Moreno is one of 72 Catholic high school participants, having created “The Lion of God,” an unusual but faith-based sculpture on display at the Cathedral.

  • PATIENT WAIT
    March 26, 2014  |  The Latest  |  No Comment

    Jersey Vargas patiently waits for her turn to talk to Pope Francis during today’s (March 26) general audience at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The …

  • Area immigration activists hope to meet with pope today
    March 26, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    On Wednesday, they expect to participate in a mass general audience with Pope Francis, but they said they also have been told their group will be separated for a personal greeting with the pontiff.

    “We don’t know if we have five minutes or 15 minutes, but we are anxious to speak with him, even if briefly,” said Francisco Moreno, a spokesman for the Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas en Norteamérica, which promotes the advancement of the Latino community in North America.

  • Many Voices Try to Shape Pope Francis-Obama Meeting
    March 26, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    In anticipation of Pope Francis’ Thursday meeting with President Barack Obama, activist Judie Brown sent the pontiff an unsolicited 12-page memo that detailed what she said is the administration’s hostility toward the church on issues such as abortion and contraception.

    The meeting also spurred 10-year-old Jersey Vargas to travel to Rome from Los Angeles to ask the pope to help her and other American children of undocumented immigrants by supporting changes to U.S. immigration law.

  • Jersey and the Pope: Girl asks pontiff to help end deportations
    March 26, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    Southern California immigration activists weren’t close enough to reach the pope Wednesday to deliver their message face-to-face against deportations of undocumented immigrants, but 10-year-old Jersey Vargas squeezed in between the masses and pushed herself to the front to greet him. She did it twice.

    The activists, assisted by Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, arrived in Rome and delivered some 1,300 letters from children whose families fear deportation. They hoped to ask Pope Francis to intervene on their behalf with President Barack Obama when the two men meet Thursday. Vargas, who is articulate for her age, was their representative.

  • L.A. Girl With Dad In Deportation Asks Pope Francis To Push For U.S. Immigration Reform
    March 26, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    Young Jersey Vargas arrived at the Vatican Wednesday morning carrying a cloth handkerchief her mother sewed with the words “Nest of Love” across the front.

    The 10-year-old girl’s hope was to be able to hand it directly to none other than the pope himself.