Westchester teens take pride in building altar for Pope Francis

NEW YORK - Pope Francis celebrates mass at Madison Square Garden next week, he will need an altar, a pulpit and a lectern. He will have all three, thanks in part to the hard work of a group of local teens who took pride in taking in such a special project.

It's taken several weeks and countless hours, but the teens are finally done. Byron, Mauricio and Frank are all students at Lincoln Hall School in Somers, New York. The three young men built this altar, pulpit and lectern. The pieces will be seen by millions when Pope Francis uses them during his upcoming mass at the garden.

All of the young men who attend the school, ages 12 to 18, are placed here by the family court system. Catholic Charities chose Lincoln Hall at the suggestion of Cardinal Dolan who has visited the historic school several times. The teens were picked because they excelled during their wood shop class. They were given only about a month to build both pieces.

The pieces will be a part of history but building them seems to have forever changed these young men as well. As exciting as it is for the world to see their work, for Mauricio, his beloved abuela's reaction that matters most.

One of the big questions is what will happen to these pieces after the mass? The school is hoping it will get them back so it can place them in the chapel, but that remains unclear.