Catholic Requiem Mass Honors Unborn Children, Hsi Lai Temple and BLIA Los Angeles Attend

Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple
February 3, 2026

Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple was invited on Jan. 24 to attend the annual Requiem Mass for Unborn Children at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Representing Hsi Lai Temple were Venerable Huize, along with Connie Yip, an elder advisor of the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) Los Angles Chapter, with a total of four Fo Guang members attended the event.

More than 50 representatives from various faith traditions—including Buddhism, Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy, Christianity, and other religions—participated in the interfaith gathering. The Mass was presided over by Archbishop José H. Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and drew more than 3,000 Catholic faithful.

In his address, Archbishop Gomez called on society to confront the dignity and rights of unborn life with deeper compassion and a renewed sense of responsibility. He offered prayers for “the little lives who never had the chance to be born into this world,” reaffirming the Church’s longstanding concern for life issues. The archbishop spoke of the love these children were unable to experience on earth, expressing hope that they are now embraced and comforted in heaven by a loving God who has cherished them from the beginning of time. His gentle yet resolute words moved many in attendance, creating an atmosphere of solemn reflection.

Archbishop Gomez further emphasized that these silent yet real lives should not be forgotten, but rather become a catalyst for action. In their “witness,” he said, the Church and its faithful renew their commitment to advocating for the fundamental rights of unborn children, viewing this work as a noble and inescapable mission.

Event organizer OneLife LA noted that the gathering was not only a religious observance, but also an effort to raise public awareness of life ethics and human dignity, and to foster broader social dialogue in building a culture that respects life. OneLife LA partners with numerous Southern California–based service organizations to provide life-affirming support, including care for pregnant women, assistance to immigrants and refugees, support for the homeless, survivors of human trafficking, the elderly, people with disabilities, and those at the end of life, as well as helping foster children find permanent homes. This commitment to service underscores the event as not an endpoint, but a call to build and strengthen community.

The ceremony concluded with the lighting of 200 candles and a minute of silence in remembrance. The candles were placed in the cathedral’s colonnade windows, where they will remain on display for a week as a tribute to these brief lives. Visible from the nearby U.S. 101 freeway, the candles will be seen by thousands of commuters each day—an invitation for all who witness the flickering lights to kindle compassion within their own hearts.