What LA’s Frassati miracle priest told Pope Leo XIV
Father Juan Manuel Gutierrez had just finished Sunday morning Mass at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in South LA on August 31 when one of his youngest parishioners ran up to give him a hug – and ask for an unusual favor.
“When you meet Pope Leo, can you tell him Natalie says hello?” asked the second grader, who goes to the parish’s Catholic school.
It was a bold request, but also a premature one.
Gutierrez wasn’t even sure if he’d make it to Rome that following week to witness the Sept. 7 canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati, a 20th century Italian blessed whose intercession has been officially recognized as responsible for the miraculous healing of Gutierrez’s torn Achilles tendon eight years ago.