Natchez pastor discovers mother, daughter in basement of basilica

Published: 2005-09-22

NATCHEZ, Miss. (CNS) -- The sound of someone playing the piano in the basement of St. Mary Basilica in Natchez caught Father David O'Connor's attention Sept. 8. "No one was supposed to be there so I went to investigate," said the pastor. He found Babbette Delafont, 42, and her 11-year-old daughter, Bridgette, at the piano. At the sight of the priest, Babbette Delafont started crying. "I told Father O'Connor everything," she said. "He then got on the telephone and started calling people." From their initial conversation, Father O'Connor, who also is pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Natchez, learned that the mother and daughter were hurricane victims from Harahan, La. "They had left their home in Louisiana escaping Hurricane Katrina and had a place to stay with a cousin in town but they had not connected with any services, had no identification, no transportation and were looking for help," the priest told the Mississippi Catholic, newspaper of the Jackson Diocese. Within 24 hours Bridgette was registered in the fifth grade at Cathedral Elementary School. Until she finds a job, Babbette Delafont has offered to help out at the school. With no transportation, she doesn't know when or if she and her daughter, who are Catholic, can return home.

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