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A massive tornado approaches the town of Moore, Okla., May 20. The mile-wide tornado touched down near Oklahoma City, killing at least 91 people, including 20 children, destroying homes, businesses and a pair of elementary schools in the suburb of Moore. (CNS photo/Richard Rowe, Reuters)
OKLAHOMA CITY (CNS) — Even after the initial death toll was cut by more than half, the human and material devastation of a string of tornadoes that buffeted areas of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City May 19-20 was incalculable.
“Our first concern is for the victims who have lost their lives or loved ones and suffered injury or loss of property,” said a May 21 statement by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City.
“We are moved by the efforts of the first responders who have put their own lives on hold to help in this time of need. We owe them a debt of gratitude and assure them of our prayers,” Archbishop Coakley said.
St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb that bore the brunt of the EF-4 tornado that hit mid-afternoon May 20, was reported to have been spared, although it had lost its telephone service in the wake of the twister.
The revised number of those confirmed dead stood at 24, including at least seven children, as of midday May 21, down from the original estimate of 51. A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner at one point had put the death toll at 91 with more than 140 injured, nearly half of them children.
Officials with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul were expected to arrive in Norman by midday May 21 to meet with members of the society’s local conferences in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to assess needs of tornado victims throughout the state.
“We’re trying to make a determination of unmet needs and what our appeal will be,” Elizabeth Disco-Shearer, executive director of the society’s south-central region, told Catholic News Service as her three-member team traveled from West, Texas, where she was assisting families who lost homes in a mammoth fertilizer factory explosion April 17.
“We go in and work with the local authorities and integrate into the process. Within the first 72 hours, it’s a fact-gathering mission to determine where we can be most effective,” she said.
Plans call for the agency to bring in specialists in a rapid response team, she added.
Disco-Shearer has been scrambling of late. Her office also was assisting families in the north Texas communities of Granbury and Cleburne struck by violent tornados in mid-May.
“In the south-central region, we certainly need a lot of prayers right now,” she said.
“Catholic Charities OKC and we as an archdiocese will work with many others to ensure a smooth and comprehensive response not only to the immediate needs of those affected by the violent storms, but also to their long-term needs as they rebuild their lives,” Archbishop Coakley said in his statement. “We’re there for the long term and we’re usually the last ones to leave.”
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City planned to send teams into the ravaged areas as soon as possible, said Sonny Wilkinson, associate director for mission advancement. The May 20 twister left a 20-mile path of death and destruction.
In addition to Moore, Wilkinson said teams were planning to head to Edmond and Shawnee.
“None of our parishes suffered any damage,” he said. “We’ll do the assessment and help with immediate needs.”
Meanwhile, Catholic Charities USA’s disaster response program has contact the local agency asking about the assistance it can offer, but Wilkinson said he will not know what is needed until the initial assessments are made.
“They’ve been great in offering assistance,” he said. “We haven’t asked them to come but I imagine that is on the horizon.
“We’ve heard from Catholic Charities in Joplin (Mo.), Tulsa, (Okla.) Las Vegas, Baton Rouge (La.). The Catholic Charities network is really responding to this and wanting to help.”
Nationally, the Knights of Columbus has sent $10,000 to the Oklahoma state council to assist with the relief effort.
The organization said in a May 21 statement it is waiting for recovery efforts to “calm down” before sending in a team to assess how else it might respond.
“Our prayers are with the people of Oklahoma today. And we will back up those prayers with deeds for as long as it takes,” President Barack Obama said in remarks at the White House May 21, a day after he signed a major disaster declaration covering the state of Oklahoma and committing federal aid and resources to five Oklahoma counties.
“As a nation, our full focus right now is on the urgent work of rescue, and the hard work of recovery and rebuilding that lies ahead,” Obama said.
“There are homes and schools to rebuild, businesses and hospitals to reopen, there are parents to console, first responders to comfort, and, of course, frightened children who will need our continued love and attention,” he added.
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Contributing to this story were Mark Pattison, Dennis Sadowski and Patricia Zapor in Washington.
By Catholic News Service
Two girls stand in rubble after a tornado struck Moore, Okla., May 20. The mile-wide tornado touched down near Oklahoma City, killing at least 91 people, including 20 children, destroying homes, businesses and a pair of elementary schools in the suburb of Moore. (CNS photo/Gene Blevins, Reuters)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As the death toll rose from the massive tornado that struck near Oklahoma City May 20, Pope Francis offered a special prayer for the victims during his early morning Mass May 21, offered his condolences through his Twitter account and through a message to the city’s archbishop.
“Let us pray for the victims … and the missing, especially the children, struck by the violent tornado that hit Oklahoma City yesterday. Hear us, O Lord,” the pope said during the prayers of the faithful at his morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives.
The tornado touched down at about 3 p.m. local time in Oklahoma and reportedly stayed on the ground for more than 40 minutes, leaving a 20-mile path of death and destruction. Dozens of people were reported killed, and the death toll was expected to rise. Two elementary schools were struck by the tornado.
A few hours after the Mass, Pope Francis also used his @Pontifex Twitter account to express his concern for the Oklahoma victims and survivors.
“I am close to the families of all who died in the Oklahoma tornado, especially those who lost young children. Join me in praying for them,” he told the 2.5 million people who follow his English-language Twitter account and the 2.4 million who follow his Spanish-language account.
Later in the day, the Vatican released a message to Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state.
The cardinal said Pope Francis “has followed with deep concern the aftermath of the devastating tornado which has struck Oklahoma,” and he asked the archbishop to convey “to the entire community the assurance of his solidarity and closeness in prayer.”
“Conscious of the tragic loss of life and the immensity of the work of rebuilding that lies ahead,” Cardinal Bertone said Pope Francis “asks almighty God to grant eternal rest to the departed, comfort to the afflicted, and strength and hope to the homeless and the injured.”
“In a particular way he commends to the Father of mercies the many young children among the victims and their grieving families,” the message said.
“Upon the local civil and religious leaders, and upon all involved in the relief efforts, His Holiness invokes the risen Lord’s gifts of consolation, strength and perseverance in every good,” it said.
A screen from the new smartphone app Missio is seen on a Google Android in this image released by Little i Apps. An effort of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, the app features Pope Francis’ daily homily and news from Rome and around the world in eight languages. It is set to be launched by the pope May 17. (CNS photo/courtesy of Little i Apps)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis was scheduled to help the Pontifical Mission Societies of the United States broaden its reach around the world by unlocking a smartphone app.
During an audience with national directors of pontifical mission societies from around the world, the pope was set to launch the organization’s new Missio app from the Vatican May 17, sending news and content in eight languages.
News and information will be available in English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic from Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency, and news.va. The app also includes videos from news.va and Catholic News Service.
“The app is a way for the church and our Holy Father to reach the growing number of the world’s people who have access to handheld mobile devices, a way to connect as the body of Christ,” Oblate Father Andrew Small, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, said in a statement.
The app was available for download before the official launch, but remained locked. When the pope activates the app by pushing a button marked “evangelizantur,” Latin for “they have been evangelized,” users were to be notified.
The app is supported by Apple and Android devices. It can be downloaded for free wherever apps are available.
The introduction of the app comes as the Vatican has increasingly taken advantage of new communication technologies, including a papal Twitter account, @Pontifex. Father Small said social media helps the church call more people to be followers of Christ, “and if used properly the new media allow for a more intimate relationship between peoples and nations, fostering peace and mutual understanding.”
To create the MISSIO App, the Pontifical Mission Societies commissioned Little i Apps, LLC, an app development company headed by Catholics committed to making connections, when able, between digital and sacred spaces, contributing in this way to efforts for the new evangelization.
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholics can’t put their faith on a part-time schedule or rely on it just for the moments they choose; being Christian is a full-time occupation, Pope Francis said.
If people don’t open their hearts to the Holy Spirit to let God purify and enlighten them, then “our being Christian will be superficial,” the pope said May 15 at his weekly general audience.
Knowing and doing what God wants is not possible with mere human effort — it takes the transformative action of the Holy Spirit, he said.
Speaking to more than 80,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis also announced his September visit to Cagliari on the Italian island of Sardinia, where he plans to venerate the icon of Our Lady of “Bonaria” or “Buona Aria” (“good air” or “fair wind”), the namesake of his native city of Buenos Aires.
The pope dedicated his audience talk to the Year of Faith and, anticipating the feast of Pentecost May 19, focused on the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding the lives of the faithful and the church to the truth.
The pope also released two doves into the square in an impromptu moment.
While he was riding in the open-air popemobile, a pilgrim handed the pope a cage with two white doves inside.
At first, aides were unsure whether the woman really wanted them set loose, but after her reassurances, they opened the cage door and the pope reached inside to grab the first one, which he expertly tossed into the air.
The second dove proved more difficult as its wings got caught in the cage’s small opening. The dove didn’t seem to want to go as it tightly clutched the pope’s fingers with its small feet before finally taking off and circling over the crowds.
His deft handling of the birds perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise. According to the pope’s sister, Maria Elena Bergoglio, the future pope had a parrot when he was in the seminary.
In his audience talk, Pope Francis said the modern world is skeptical about the truth and echoed Pope Benedict XVI’s warnings about relativism, which holds that nothing is definite and that truth is based on consensus or personal whims.
But Jesus is the truth that “came among us so that we could know it,” he said.
“The truth isn’t seized like a thing, the truth is met. It’s not a possession, it’s an encounter with a person” in Christ, he said.
The Holy Spirit was the Risen Christ’s gift to humanity so that they could know and recognize that Jesus is the Word of truth, he said.
Through the Holy Spirit, God’s word and law are “inscribed in our heart and become the principle in us for evaluating our choices and guide for our daily actions, becoming a principle of life,” he said.
If people open themselves up to the Holy Spirit, he is the one who transforms that heart and makes it new, “giving us the intelligence of the things of God,” he said.
This intelligence “can’t be reached with our own efforts,” he said. “If God doesn’t enlighten us within, our being Christian will be superficial.”
The pope asked the crowd in the square whether they pray and are open to the Holy Spirit everyday so they can be “more sensitive to the things of God.”
Looking for a show of hands, the pope said, “hmm… not many, not many, but we have to do what Jesus wanted: pray every day to the Holy Spirit so that he opens our heart to Jesus.”
He asked people to take concrete steps to know Christ better, especially during the Year of Faith, by reading sacred Scripture, studying the catechism and taking part in the Sacraments.
“Let’s ask ourselves what steps we are taking so that the faith guides our existence” because “there are no part-time Christians, at certain moments, in certain circumstances, in certain choices,” he said. “You can’t be a Christian that way. You are Christians at all times, completely.”
He ended his catechesis in Italian by telling the crowd to pray to the Holy Spirit everyday: “Will you do it?” he asked, as people yelled back, “Yes!”
“I can’t hear you,” the pope said, smiling and patting his ear, drawing even louder shouts of affirmation from the crowd.
During his greetings to different language groups, the pope thanked Polish pilgrims for taking part in a city-wide March for Life in Szczecin, Poland. He said such an initiative “reminds everyone of the need to promote and defend human life from conception” to its natural end.
He also greeted students, particularly those from Catholic schools.
Catholic schools are a precious resource for all of society, he said, adding that “it is good that their role be recognized in an appropriate way.”
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Editor’s Note: A video of the pope’s release of the doves is available to video clients on the CNS Brightcove viewer, and at http://www.youtube.com/CatholicNewsService.
The text of the popes audience remarks in English is available online at www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130515_udienza-generale_en.html.
The text of the pope’s audience remarks in Spanish is available online at www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130515_udienza-generale_sp.html.
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