Clergy at interfaith rally about foreclosures in Washington, D.C., last November. (CNS)

“Father John Lasseigne has never owned a home, but he’s become one of the key saviors for those who face losing their house. As banks move in to take over homes in foreclosure, this priest is stepping in to stop them.”

That’s how a CNN article posted yesterday, entitled “Priest becomes savior in foreclosure crisis,” describes how Father Lasseigne, an archdiocesan priest in Los Angeles, is working to help people who are losing their homes because of the financial crisis.

One in every nine homes is in some stage of foreclosure in nine families in the Southern California community of Pacoima, where Father Lasseigne’s parish of Mary Immaculate Church is located.

The priest seeks to help them through prayer and by helping them to organize to learn more about foreclosure procedures and how to deal with banks that are threatening to foreclose on their homes.

“I believe that many of these families have been taken advantage of and been the subject of financial entrapment,” Father Lasseigne told CNN. “The Church is concerned about the health of its community, and if the community is going through an upheaval and many families are being dislocated, we have to respond.”