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(Vatican Radio) “Without women, there is no harmony in the world.” That was the message of Pope Francis in his homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. At the center of his reflection was creation of woman, as told in Genesis. Men and women are not equal; the one is not superior to the other. But it is the woman, and not the man, who brings that harmony which makes the world a beautiful place.

Pope Francis was continuing his reflections on creation, the subject of the Readings for the past few days, taken from the Book of Genesis. The Lord had formed every sort of animal, but the man did not find a companion in any of them; he was alone. Then the Lord took a rib and created woman, who the man recognized as “flesh of his flesh.” “But before seeing her,” the Pope said, “the man dreamed of her… In order to understand a woman, it is necessary first to dream of her.”

Without women, there is no harmony

“Often when we speak about women,” the Pope said, we think of them in a ‘functionalist’ manner. Instead, we should see women as bearers of a richness that men do not possess: women bring harmony to creation:

“When women are not there, harmony is missing. We might say: But this is a society with a strong masculine attitude, and this is the case, no? The woman is missing. ‘Yes, yes: the woman is there to wash the dishes, to do things…’ No, no, no! The woman is there to bring harmony. Without the woman there is no harmony. They are not equal; one is not superior to the other: no. It’s just that the man does not bring harmony. It’s her. It is she who brings that harmony that teaches us to caress, to love with tenderness; and who makes the world a beautiful place.”

Exploiting people is a crime, but exploiting women is worse: it destroys harmony

In his homily, the Pope considered three moments in Creation: the solitude of the man, the dream, and the destiny of both the man and the woman: to be “one flesh.” The Holy Father gave a concrete example: Once, during an audience, while he greeted the people, he asked a couple who were celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary, “Which of you has had the most patience?”

“And they looked at me, they looked me in the eyes – I’ll never forget those eyes, eh? – then they turned and they told me, both together: ‘We are in love.’ After 60 years, this means ‘one flesh.’ And this is what the woman brings: the capacity to love one another. Harmony for the world. Often we hear: ‘No, it is necessary in this society, in this institution, that here there should be a woman because she does this, she does these things.’ No, no, no, no! Functionality is not the purpose of women. It is true that women should do things, to do things as we all do. The purpose of women is to make harmony, and without women there is no harmony in the world. Exploiting persons is a crime of ‘lèse-humanité’: it’s true. But exploiting a woman is even more serious: it is destroying the harmony that God has chosen to give to the world. It is to destroy.”

Exploiting a woman, then, is not only a crime: it amounts to “destroying harmony,” the Pope said, referring also to the day’s Gospel story of the Syrophoenician woman.

God has created woman so that we would all have a mother

Pope Francis concluded his reflection with a personal note:

This is the great gift of God: He has given us woman. And in the Gospel, we have heard what a woman is capable of, eh? She is courageous, that one, eh? She went forward with courage. But there is more, so much more. A woman is harmony, is poetry, is beauty. Without her the world would not be so beautiful, it would not be harmonious. And I like to think – but this is a personal thing – that God created women so that we would all have a mother. 

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(Vatican Radio) The Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica will publish the text of Pope Francis’ conversation with 140 Superiors General of male religious orders during the 88th General Assembly of the Union of Superiors General (USG) which took place on 25 November 2016.

An excerpt of this conversation was published on Thursday in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

“The Church must accompany the young in their journey towards maturity, and it is only with discernment and not abstractions that young people can discover their path in life and live a life open to God and the world, so I chose this theme to introduce discernment more forcefully into the life of the Church,” the Pope said when asked why the next General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is on young people.

“You have to work with young people by doing things, working with the popular missions, social work, going every week to feed the homeless,” – the Holy Father continued – “Young people find the Lord in action. Then, after action they have to reflect. But reflection alone doesn’t help, because it is only ideas ... ideas. So, two concepts: listening and movement. This is important. But not only training young people to listen, but first listening to them, the young people themselves. This is an important priority for the Church: listening to young people.”

He also spoke about the falling number of vocations in religious orders, saying it is “certainly linked to the demographic problem,” but added “it is also true that sometimes the pastoral vocation does not respond to the expectations of the young.”

He also expressed “worry” over some of the new religious institutes, remarking “some of them seem to represent a new approach, to express a great apostolic strength, attracting many, only then ... to go bankrupt.”

He also said he was at peace with being Pope, and spoke about his election.

“There was talk in the General Congregations [the meetings among the Cardinals before the Conclave] of the Vatican’s problems, there was talk of reforms. Everyone wanted them,” – Pope Francis said – “There is corruption in the Vatican. But I’m at peace. If there is a problem, I write a note to St. Joseph and put it under a statue that I have in my room. It is a statue of St. Joseph sleeping. And now he sleeps on a mattress of notes! That’s why I sleep well: it is the grace of God.”

The Pope said he believes that everyone must seek to discover what the Lord has chosen for them.

“After all, losing peace does not help us to suffer at all,” – he explained – “The Superiors must learn to suffer, but to suffer like a father. And also to suffer with a great deal of humility. This is the path that can lead from the cross to peace. But never wash your hands of problems! Yes, in the Church there are Pontius Pilates who wash their hands to avoid discomfort. But a superior who washes his hands is not a father, and doesn’t help.”

When asked about the prophetic role of religious life, Pope Francis said it was important to be “radical in prophecy.”

“Being radical in the prophecy is the famous sine glossa, the rule sine glossa, the Gospel sine glossa,” – the Holy Father emphasized – “In other words, without tranquillisers! The Gospel should be taken without tranquillisers. This is what the Church Fathers did. It is in them that we should seek the radical nature of the prophecy. They remind us that we are called to come out of our comfort zones, forsake all that is worldly: in our way of life, but also in thinking up new ways forward for our Institutes.”

Pope Francis also spoke about the issue of sexual abuse by clergy and religious.

“On the subject of sexual abuse: it seems that half of those who commit abuse have themselves been victims of abuse,” – the Holy Father said – “Abuse is thus sowed in the future and this is devastating. If priests or religious are involved it is clear that the devil is at work, who ruins the work of Jesus through those who should proclaim him. But let’s be clear: this is a disease. If we are not convinced that this is a disease, we cannot solve the problem. So pay attention when receiving candidates for the religious life and ensure that they are sufficiently emotionally mature. For example: never accept in a religious community or diocese a candidate that has been rejected by another seminar or another institute without asking for very clear and detailed information on the reasons for their rejection.”

The full dialogue between Pope Francis and the Religious superiors will appear in La Civiltà Cattolica on Saturday. The excerpt published by Corriere della Sera on Thursday can be found in English here.

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(Vatican Radio) A senior Caritas official who’s just returned from the Syrian city of Aleppo says the devastation and humanitarian crisis there are “beyond human imagination” with many areas in the east looking as though they had been hit by a nuclear bomb. Patrick Nicholson is the head of Communications for Caritas Internationalis and has just returned from a visit to the war-ravaged city. In an interview with Susy Hodges he described the scenes, especially in eastern Aleppo, as “post-apocalyptic” because of the extent of the destruction and shared with her a shocking story of how he discovered 6 young children, including a baby, living on their own amidst the rubble of their bombed-out house.

Listen to Patrick Nicholson of Caritas Internationalis:  

Caritas and other aid agencies are continuing to sound the alarm about the desperate humanitarian crisis in the Syrian city of Aleppo that’s been one of the main battlegrounds in the nation’s civil war. Nearly 1.8 million people across the city do not have access to water supplies whilst in eastern Aleppo that was previously held by rebels until December, the overall situation is considerably worse with little food, no electricity or heating and whole areas reduced to rubble by the ferocity of the fighting.

Nicholson has witnessed the aftermath of many natural disasters like the 2006 Tsunami and a number of earthquakes but told us the scale of the damage and destruction he saw in Aleppo, especially the east of the city, was “the worst” he had ever seen. Describing the devastation there as “bleak” and “beyond human imagination” he said many of the city’s residents lack the basic essentials to survive like food, clean water, heating, proper shelter, access to medical care and desperately need humanitarian aid. Whilst carrying out house-to-house visits in eastern Aleppo with other Caritas staff, Nicholson recounted how they discovered a family of 6 young children ranging in age from 12 years old to only 9 months who were living on their own, without their parents, amidst the rubble of their bombed-out house. 

Nicholson said it was “a miracle” the baby in particular had managed to survive in what he called this “horrific situation” for such a vulnerable group of youngsters. That same morning they came across another group of 3 children living on their own in similar circumstances and warn there is the risk that many young children are being forced to fend for themselves amidst the rubble of their damaged houses in eastern Aleppo. Despite this incredibly “bleak” situation, Nicholson said he was inspired by the dedication of so many people in Aleppo who are striving to provide help to those who have nothing and promote a climate of peace and reconciliation in this city that became a leading symbol of the bitterness and brutality of Syria’s civil war. 

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Vatican City, Feb 9, 2017 / 05:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the historic Jesuit-run paper La Civilta Cattolica for the first time rolled out four new language editions other than Italian, Pope Francis praised their work, urging the writers to have a healthy dose of restlessness, openness and imagination.

Even with its 167 year history, the paper “continues with courage it’s navigation in the open sea,” the Pope told the publication’s writing staff Feb. 9, urging them to “stay in open water!”

“The Catholic must never be afraid of the open sea, must never try to seek shelter in safe havens,” he said, explaining that its especially important for them as Jesuits “to avoid clinging to certainties and securities.”

“The Lord calls us to go out on mission, and to go offshore and not to retire in order to safeguard certainties,” he said, adding that while going offshore means they could face “storms and headwind,” they must be strong and continue “to row in service of the Church.”

Pope Francis Feb. 9 had a private meeting with Jesuit Father General Fr. Arturo Sosa S.J. and close friend Fr. Antonio Spadaro S.J., who is also the director of the historic Jesuit-run paper “La Civilta Cattolica,” before holding an audience with the paper’s team of writers.

Other than Spadaro, additional members of the paper’s “College of Writers” present for the encounter included their vice-director Giancarlo Pani S.J.; chief director Domenico Ronchitelli S.J.and writers Giovanni Cucci S.J.; Diego Fares S.J.; Francesco Occhetta S.J. and Giovanni Sale S.J.

The Pope granted the audience on the occasion of the publication of 4,000th issue of the paper, which was established April 5, 1850, and is known for the special syntony it shares with the Pope and his specific mission.

In addition to reaching the landmark number of editions, the paper will from this issue on publish a monthly edition in four additional languages other than Italian: English, Spanish, French and Korean. They will also be receiving written submissions from Jesuits around the world.

In an uncharacteristically long speech, Pope Francis said 4,000 issues is not just “a collection of paper,” but contains the reflection, passion and struggles and tireless work of so many.

Noting how past writers for the paper referred to themselves simply as “workers” rather than “intellectuals,” Francis said he likes the humble definition, and follows their work closely, often keeping a copy of the paper on his desk.

“The deep and specific sense of your paper is well described and must remain unchanged,” he said, adding this points to the fact that the paper is an expression of a community of all-Jesuit writers who not only share an intellectual experience, but also a shared inspiration and daily community life.

The fact that the paper is for the first time expanding into languages other than Italian signals “an evolution” that has been thought of since the Second Vatican Council, but was never put into action.

“Now that the world is increasingly connected, overcoming language barriers will help to better spread the message on a larger scale,” he said, adding that the contributions received from other Jesuits around the world will also enrich what the paper offers.

Reflecting on what it means to be a Catholic paper, the Pope then offered them three “patrons,” three Jesuits “to whom to look in order to go forward.”

The first figure Pope Francis pointed to was St. Peter Favre, a co-founder of the Jesuits who lived from 1506-1546 and was “a man of great desires, a relentless spirit, never satisfied and a pioneer of ecumenism.”

St. Peter Favre and his deep desire to change the world, he said, can teach the paper’s writers the value of “restlessness,” since without a healthy dose of it “we are sterile.” Only restlessness “gives peace to the heart of a Jesuit,” he said, adding that in order to cross bridges and borders they need to have this type of healthy anxiety in their minds and hearts.

He cautioned that at times the “security of doctrine” can be confused with the “suspicion for research,” but noted that with the writers, this isn’t the case.

“Christian values and traditions of are not rare pieces to close in cases inside a museum,” Francis said, adding that instead, it’s “the certainty of of the faith” that serves as the “motor” driving their work.

“Your paper becomes aware of the wounds of this world and of individual therapies,” he said, and prayed they would each be a writer “who tends to understand evil, but also to pour oil onto open wounds, to heal.”

A second figure Pope Francis pointed to was Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit who lived from 1522-1610 and played a key role in founding the Jesuit missions in China. In 1602 he drew up a map of the world in Chinese characters that included the findings of European exploration in East Asia.

Just as Ricci’s map of the world helped to better introduce the Chinese people to the rest of the world, writers for La Civilta Cattolica, he said, “are also called to compose a world map.”

This map, he said, involves making recent discoveries known, giving names to places and knowing what a Catholic civilization really means. It also means helping Catholics to know that God “is at work even outside the confines of the Church, in every true civilization, with the breath of the Holy Spirit.”

Pointing to the virtue of “incompleteness,” Francis said Ricci is an example of this from which the writers can learn to be journalists who have an “incomplete thought” in the sense that they are open-minded, and not “closed and rigid” in front of modern global challenges.

Turning to the figure of Jesuit brother Andrea Pozzo, who lived from 1642-1709 and was an accomplished Baroque painter and architect, the Pope said he can serve as an example for the writers to learn the value of imagination and creativity.

Through his work, Pozzo was able to “open with his imagination open spaces, domes and corridors, where there were only roofs and walls.”

Francis also pointed to the value of poetry, expressing his own appreciation for it and saying he still reads it often. He told the writers, then, to be sure to make space for art, literature, cinema, theatre and music in the paper.

He also spoke of the importance of discernment, which “is always realized in the presence of the Lord, looking at the signs, listening to the things that happen and the feeling of the people who know the humble path of daily obstinacy, especially the poor.”

“The wisdom of discernment rescues the necessary ambiguity of life,” he said, but cautioned that this ambiguity must be penetrated and entered into, just as Christ entered into humanity by taking on our flesh.

“Rigid thought is not divine because Jesus assumed our flesh, which is not rigid if not for the moment of death,” he cautioned.

Pope Francis closed his speech expressing his hope that the paper would be able to obtain a lot of readers in all five editions, and prayed that the Society of Jesus would support this “ancient and precious work,” which is unique due to its bond with the Holy See.

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Vatican City, Feb 9, 2017 / 08:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a lengthy, unscripted dialogue with 140 male religious superiors, Pope Francis admitted that there is “corruption” inside the Vatican, but said that despite this, his secret to maintaining peace comes from St. Joseph and a strong prayer life.

He also spoke at length on religious life, offering advice to the superiors on how to deal with different scandals in their communities, and explained why he chose youth and discernment as the topic for the next synod of bishops.

When asked how he keeps peace amid tension and opposition, the Pope jested, saying “I don’t take tranquilizers!” and said he’s learned to take the advice given to him by Italians, to maintain “a healthy couldn’t-care-less attitude.”

On a more serious note, however, the Pope recalled that during the general congregations before the conclave that elected him in 2013, “there was talk of reforms. Everyone wanted them.”

“There is corruption in the Vatican,” he said, but added that “I’m at peace.” If a problem comes up, Francis says he writes it down on a piece of paper and puts it underneath a statue of a sleeping St. Joseph he has in his room.

“Now he sleeps on a mattress of notes!” the Pope said, explaining that this is why “I sleep well: it is the grace of God.”

Other than entrusting his problems to the care of St. Joseph, Francis said he has his own daily regimen of personal prayer, including Mass, the rosary, the Liturgy of the Hours and scripture.

After praying, “the peace within me grows...my peace is a gift from the Lord,” Pope Francis said, telling the superiors that each person must try to discover “what the Lord has chosen for them” and must never avoid problems, but carry them with humility.

Pope Francis spoke to 140 Superiors General of male religious organizations and congregations (USG) Nov. 25, 2016, at the end of their 88th general assembly.

The text of the conversation was published Feb. 9 as part of the 4,000th issue of Jesuit-run newspaper La Civilta Cattolica, marking not only the milestone number, but also the paper’s expansion into four languages other than Italian: English, Spanish, French and Korean.

No speeches had been prepared for the meeting in advance, so the unscripted Q&A session, which lasted about three hours, was completely free and off-the-cuff.

When asked by the superiors what advice he had for them in terms of dealing with financial and sexual scandals in their congregations, the Pope said that on the financial point, “the Lord strongly wants consecrated people to be poor.”

“When they are not, the Lord sends a bursar who leads the Institute to bankruptcy!” he said, noting that at times religious congregations are led by an administrator whom they consider to be a friend, but who in reality leads them to “financial ruin.”

The basic quality of someone serving as a bursar “is not to be personally attached to the money,” he said, explaining that it’s also important to check into how banks invest money, because, as an example, “it must never happen that we are investing in weapons.”

On the point of sexual abuse, the Pope noted that frequently abusers have themselves been victims of abuse before committing their own acts, and “abuse is thus sowed into the future and this is devastating.”

“If priests or religious are involved, it is clear that the devil is at work, who ruins the work of Jesus through those who should proclaim him,” he said, but stressed the importance of recognizing that this type of behavior “is a disease.”

“If we are not convinced that this is a disease, we cannot solve the problem,” he said, and urged them to use scrutiny when vetting candidates for religious life, paying careful attention to whether they are “sufficiently emotionally mature” or not.

He told the superiors to “never accept in a religious community or diocese a candidate that has been rejected by another seminar or another institute” without first asking “for very clear and detailed information on the reasons for their rejection.”

When asked what he expected from religious and consecrated persons ahead of the 2018 Synod of Bishops on “Young People, Faith and the Discernment of Vocation,” particularly given the fall of the number of vocations in the West, Pope Francis acknowledged the issue as a problem.

“The decline of religious life in the West worries me,” he said, noting that it’s in part a problem of demographics, but on the other hand vocational pastoral outreach doesn’t seem to meet the expectations of youth.

However, aside from the fall in the quantity of vocations, Pope Francis said there is another thing that worries him: “the rise of some new religious institutes” that bring with them a load of new scandals and problems.

Francis clarified that he doesn’t mean to imply that “there should be no new religious institutes. Absolutely not,” but said he often wonders what is happening when he sees new communities pop up that seem to have a fresh approach, exhibit strength and attract a lot of youth, but in the end “go bankrupt” or are found to be coving scandals.

While some communities are good and work hard, others are not born from “the charism of the Holy Spirit,” but rather from “a human charisma, a charismatic person who attracts by means of their human charms.”

Some of these people, he said, are “restorationist” in the sense that they seem to offer a form of security, but instead “give only rigidity.”

Others, he said, are “Pelagians” in that they want to return to asceticism and penance, and seem “like soldiers ready to do anything for the defense of faith and morals,” but then “some scandal emerges” surrounding the founder.

“We know all about this, right?” he said, but noted that “Jesus has a different style. The Holy Spirit made noise on the day of Pentecost: it was the beginning. But usually the Spirit does not make much noise, it carries the cross.”

The Holy Spirit “is not triumphalist,” he said, saying the attitude doesn’t mesh well with a life of prayer, and that instead, God’s style is to carry the cross “until the Lord says ‘enough.’”

So rather than placing hope in the “sudden, mass blooming of these institutes,” Francis told the superiors to seek “the humble path of Jesus, that of evangelical testimony.”

Pope Francis also reflected on how consecrated people can contribute to the renewal of both the structures and mindset of the Church, voicing his conviction that consecrated persons “are at the forefront” in this area.

On the upcoming 2018 Synod of Bishops, the Pope, when asked how he came up with the theme, said that each participant in the 2015 synod offered three suggestions for possible topics to be discussed in the future.

Youth and the need for better priestly formation were both big topics, he said, but explained that for him personally, discernment was also a big issue to address. So when the title “Young people, faith and vocational discernment” was announced, he accepted it as it was.

“The Church must accompany the young in their journey towards maturity, and it is only with discernment and not abstractions that young people can discover their path in life and live a life open to God and the world,” he said, explaining that the theme is meant to “introduce discernment more forcefully into the life of the Church.”

When asked about the theme of the next three World Youth Days, which will culminate with the 2019 international gathering in Panama, the Pope said he didn’t choose the themes, but that they were suggested by organizers in Latin America.

However, he cautioned that while the Marian themes are important, they must focus on “the real Madonna! Not the Madonna at the head of a post office that every day sends a different letter, saying: ‘My children, do this and then the next day do that.’”

“No, not that Madonna,” he said, noting that “the real Madonna is the one who generates Jesus in our hearts, a Mother. This fashion for a superstar Madonna, who seeks the limelight, is not Catholic.”

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald

By Peter Finney Jr.

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Vergie and Roger Davis of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in New Orleans East, who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, have been through natural disasters of near biblical proportions before.

In 1982, an electrical fire broke out inside their three-bedroom home five blocks from the church, sending smoke billowing through the interior. The cleanup took 18 months.

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina breached poorly constructed federal levees, their house, for which they had just made their last mortgage payment, took on 4 and a half feet of water. They got back into their house in 2007.

And, then Feb. 7, a massive tornado swept through the neighborhood while Vergie took cover inside an interior closet.

"I've known this for the longest -- where's the best place for me to go," she told the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. "I knew the inside closet, farthest away from the interior walls. I saw lightning, and I knew it was time to jump in. I knew I had to hold on tight -- you could feel it shake."

After about a minute, when the noise stopped, she was able to pry open the door despite the debris pile at the bottom of the door.

She looked up and saw the sky. Their house had been destroyed.

The Davises were among 250 families in New Orleans East whose houses were either heavily damaged or destroyed by the powerful tornado, relatively rare in southeast Louisiana. Despite the wide swath of damage, officials reported no fatalities and only about a dozen injuries.

As the Davises assessed the damage Feb. 8 with their pastor, Father Geoffrey Omondi Muga, of the Franciscan Missionaries of Hope, they reflected on the trials they have endured over the past 35 years.

"Well, I'm a little numb," said Roger, 74, grand knight of Resurrection's Knights of Columbus Council 4547. "The only consolation I have is that we've been through this before, maybe not in the same way. (After Katrina) we had a house we could still rebuild and still had the structure, but this is a little bit different. I'm just glad everybody's OK. There were no fatalities. That's the biggest thing."

Father Muga, pastor for 14 months, walked through the neighborhood to assess the devastation. He stopped at the heavily damaged brick home of parishioner Carol Adams, who told him the doorbell had rung mysteriously before the tornado hit.

"I went to the door and nobody was there," she said. "My husband went to the front and I went to the back. All of a sudden I heard a 'shhhhh.' I told my husband, 'What is that?' We closed the door and came and laid down in the hall. Thank God."

Asked how she could put this into perspective after sustaining 5 feet of flooding during Katrina, Adams said: "By the will of God. Start all over. Life goes on."

"As I walk around, I think they are pretty shaken, but they are kind of absorbing it," Father Muga said. "I didn't see them in a frenzy. The police and firemen were here. Since they have gone through Katrina, I think they are not so much overwhelmed. But it's a lot of damage."

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans was among several agencies partnering with the Red Cross and city officials to establish an overnight shelter at a facility in a nearby park and offer case management and counseling services.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, operated by the archdiocese, dropped off 700 prepared meals and set up distribution of water and snacks at the park. It was considering setting up a distribution site closer to the damage zone.

"We're still trying to get a handle on it," said Jay Vise, director of communications for Second Harvest. "Every time I see more footage of it, it just seems bigger and bigger. Meteorologists tell us they've never seen this type of tornado. This is a Midwest, giant wedge tornado. You don't see that down here.

"By the grace of God, no one was killed," he added. "When you see the destruction from the air that's 2 miles wide, it looks like somebody came through with a giant pencil eraser and wiped it out."

As the Davises walked over felled beams, ribbons of pink insulation and shattered glass in their living room, they said they were not sure what they would do next. They do have insurance, but they may not want to rebuild a third time.

The couple said they'll have to make a decision about coming back and rebuilding -- the house will have to be torn down -- or finding a house or condo in another part of the city.

The Davises said they will continue to hold fast to their faith. Vergie is continuing to recover from an aneurysm last summer, and their daughter had a recent battle with cancer.

Vergie wore a light blue shirt with a patch honoring Mother Henriette Delille, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family, a congregation of African-American sisters founded in pre-Civil War New Orleans who educated slaves and cared for the elderly at a time when teaching slaves was against the law. Roger wore his Knights of Columbus cap and shirt.

Vergie got her name because she was born March 24, the eve of the feast of the Annunciation of the Mary.

"Ask God to guide me as to which way to go," Vergie said.

Before leaving their home, Father Muga joined hands with the Davises and offered a prayer.

"Almighty Father, we thank you for life," he said. "We thank you for the gifts that you've given us to be your sons and daughter. ' We lift Vergie and Roger up to you today and thank you for their lives, for sparing them.

"We pray that this tornado, this event, may bring us together as a family, as a community and may also bring us closer to you."

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Finney is executive editor/general manager of the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

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