Parents Of Murdered Son Get Premium Seats For Papal Mass
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A local family whose son was murdered in North Philadelphia last January spent months writing to the Vatican asking to see Pope Francis when he comes to Philadelphia. They recently received some very positive news.
"We can't even begin to express how much this means to us," Aleida Garcia said.
She and Wilfredo Rojas are still mourning the recent loss of their son Alejandro, 34. The Temple student and father of two was murdered outside of a night club in North Philadelphia. Grief stricken, Garcia and Rojas helped rally the community to identify their son's killer. Then, they set on a crusade to shine the light on the plight of victim families by getting the attention of the Holy Father.
"We hand delivered letters to the Vatican, we wrote to the World Meeting of Families, we went to our parish priest," says Rojas, who is a devout Catholic. "I prayed to St. John Neumann, I prayed every night. Aleida prayed every night."
Then on Friday the World Meeting of Families sent a letter inviting Garcia and Rojas to attend the Papal Mass on the Parkway, along with two guests.
"I started crying," says Garcia, when asked about her reaction to the letter. "We had been crying out for attention on homicide, calling for justice for our son and to be heard by the Archdiocese and the Catholic Church, it means so much to us."
Garcia and Rojas picked up their tickets for the "reserved section" on Monday and spent Tuesday on the Parkway scoping out their four seats.
"We are going to be on row six," Rojas said, almost giddy. "I understand there will be clergy on either side and we'll be in the middle. I know we'll be close and we'll be able to feel the presence of the Holy Father."
The duo say their goal is to shine light on the plight of families of murder victims, so they plan to share in their good fortune. They are inviting two others who have lost a loved one to murder to join them at the mass and the group will wear sashes with the faces of victims lost. A gesture they hope will make their son proud.
"Alex is looking down on us now with a smile on his face saying, 'Daddy and Mommy you did it,' Rojas said.
Garcia and Rojas invite families of murder victim to email the name and photo of their lost loved one to justiceforalexnow@gmail.com. They will work to include the victim on their sashes when they attend the Papal Mass.