They don't vote in the conclave, but nuns leading the world's Catholic orders gather in Rome

ROME (AP) — They don’t have a vote in the pope’s election, but nearly 900 superiors of the world’s female Catholic orders met in Rome on Monday to chart a course forward, a few miles from where cardinals will gather in a conclave to choose a successor to Pope Francis.

Sister Mary Barron, president of the umbrella group of leaders of women’s religious orders, urged the superiors and the over 650,000 nuns worldwide to pray that the cardinals make the right choice and reflect on how to carry forward Francis′ vision.

“We must be vigilant in doing our part to keep that flame of church renewal alive,” she told the assembly of sisters — some in regular clothes, others in traditional habits.

The International Union of Superiors General is holding its plenary assembly this week – coincidentally at the same time as the conclave, which opens Wednesday.

The Catholic Church reserves the priesthood for men, so only men will choose the leader of the world's 1.4-billion Catholics. Of the 133 cardinals expected to vote at the conclave, 108 were appointed by Francis.

Among those present at the assembly was Sister Nathalie Becquart — elevated by Pope Francis as the first female undersecretary in the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops office in 2021.

Many saw her appointment, as well as that of Sister Raffaella Petrini as president of the Vatican City State, as a sign that the rigidly male Catholic hierarchy might finally allow women to assume high-level decision-making responsibilities.

Delphine Kalisha of the Sisters of Mercy in Zambia said she hopes the new pope will continue to promote sisters in positions of leadership.

“That has given us hope for women in the church,” Kalisha said.

Becquart told The Associated Press that sisters want “to be better listened to, like others, to be valued.”

“Maybe you are a cardinal or a young sister, we are all together called to be protagonists to carry on the mission of the church,” she said.

The orders at the assembly are involved in public ministries such as education and health. Superior generals from Argentina to Zambia said that’s an essential role at the frontlines of the church’s social work, which Francis emphasized.

Barron exhorted her fellow sisters, who last gathered in a general assembly in 2022, to continue to embrace Francis’ vision of a church that listens to all by “daring to dream a future that reflects the boundless love of God.”

Quoting from poets Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou, she called religious sisters to meet the needs of the world’s most marginalized.

“Our path forward might not be clear or conventional, but it’s illuminated by the language of hope,” Barron said.

Topics discussed in the first working session included wars, migration and human trafficking, climate change and economic inequality.

Several sister said they hope the next pope carries on Francis’ legacy of outreach to the marginalized, whether at the Vatican or in impoverished borderlands.

Sister Graciela Trivilino of Argentina – who as head of the Franciscan Sisters of Bonlanden in Argentina has worked with people with addiction for many years – said the goal is “to take the Gospel to the concrete facts of everyday life.”

In Sicily, Sister Maria Agnese Ciarrocco does street ministry with the Sisters of the Poor of Don Morinello.

“We’re all in a climate of challenge,” she said. “Let’s keep hoping that religious life can still be something that attracts people precisely by the way we work, by our presence.”

Several sisters said the decline in vocations even in Africa, a continent where Catholicism is strong, is a major worry for the future.

“Even just our presence is a lot of witness that people need,” said Sister Theodosia Baki of the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis in Cameroon. Her order focuses on the education of girls, as well as health and refugee care in five African countries.

Barron said that despite many challenges, including problems with securing visas for missionary work, the sisters’ contributions are increasingly needed.

“I think right now in the Church and the world there are so many opportunities for consecrated life to make a difference,” she said.

AP Vatican correspondent Nicole Winfield contributed.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Sister Nathalie Becquart smiles during an interview with the Associated Press during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Sister Mary Barron, the president of the umbrella group of leaders of women's religious orders, right, walks at the end of her speech during congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Nuns take a selfie during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A nun walks during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A nun arrives for congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Translation boots are seen during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Sister Mary Barron, the president of the umbrella group of leaders of women's religious orders, poses for a photo during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Nuns attend a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A nun prays during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

FILE - Nuns talk in front of Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti's Moses statue, part of a funerary monument he designed for Pope Julius II inside San Pietro in Vincoli Basilica in Rome, July 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Nuns pray during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Nuns pray during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Nuns pray during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Nuns pray during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Nuns pray during a congress of nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders in Rome, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As National Guard members roll into New Orleans to help with safety measures ahead of New Year's celebrations, city officials are still seeking permanent security solutions nearly a year after a truck attack on Bourbon Street left 14 dead.

The rampage, in which a man drove around a police blockade in the early hours of Jan. 1, revealed security vulnerabilities surrounding a famous street filled with boisterous bars, brass bands playing on cobblestone corners and a steady stream of partygoers carrying cocktails.

While Louisiana officials say the tourist site is safe as they implement additional measures to crackdown on potential threats ahead of the attack anniversary, families of deceased victims say not enough has been done to ensure similar tragedies won't happen again.

The attack happened when Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck down Bourbon Street, plowing into crowds celebrating New Year’s Day, killing 14 people and injuring dozens of others. Police shot and killed Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran who had proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group on social media.

In the wake of the rampage, city officials, state agencies and law firms representing victims’ families launched investigations into whether the attack could have been prevented. The investigations focused on the street's bollard system of steel columns designed to block cars from entering the thoroughfare. The bollards were being replaced at the time.

Among the victims were Nikyra Dedeaux, an 18-year-old about to start college who was on Bourbon Street with friends. Her mother, Melissa Dedeaux, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that while many will ring in 2026 with fireworks and merriment, she will be grieving. She has been haunted by her daughter's final moments, captured in graphic video that circulated on social media.

“I’m a parent that had to wake up, log on my Facebook account and see my daughter's last days — my daughter's last time. I didn’t get to see her on Bourbon the night it happened. I saw her on a video,” she told the AP.

“I saw no safety,” Dedeaux said. “I saw that my daughter could still be here.”

Questions still swirl around the street's barricade system, which is a patchwork of bollards, strategically parked police vehicles and 32 large steel barriers that officers push into place every night to form pedestrian zones.

“They are not meant to be utilized in the fashion they are,” Samuel Palumbo, the 8th District New Orleans Police Department Captain, said of the barriers that can withstand only low-speed collisions. He stressed to the New Orleans Governmental Affairs Committee this month that the system is a “temporary solution to a permanent problem.”

“We need to learn from what happened,” Morris Bart, whose law firm is representing victims and their families, told reporters Tuesday. “It’s kind of ridiculous ... that a year after this tragedy nothing has been done to resolve this situation.”

Palumbo urged the city to install permanent security gates that can withstand crashes up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour). The committee opted to hold off on a vote until incoming Mayor Helena Moreno enters office in January.

A consulting firm, hired by the city to conduct a security assessment, made another suggestion: Make Bourbon Street a pedestrian only area.

While much of the street is limited to pedestrians at night, the recommendation — which victims' families have supported — was largely ignored after French Quarter residents and business owners raised concerns about accessing their homes and businesses.

As the city prepares for round-the-clock revelry, President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of 350 National Guard members, who were arriving Tuesday to provide enhanced security for the French Quarter.

Troops will stay through Carnival season, when tourists descend on the Big Easy to partake in costumed celebrations and parades that snake through city streets before ending with Mardi Gras in mid-February.

Republicans and Democrats have supported the additional resources. Mayor-elect Moreno said she appreciates the troops' presence and that it increases the “visibility of security assets during major events.”

Longtime French Quarter worker Miguel Thornton said he's happy to see armed troops a year after the attack.

“A lot of the service industry professionals that were out here were affected — they saw the carnage, they had to step over bodies — and so people were definitely changed,” Thornton said. “As far as the National Guard, they’ve been here before. Honestly, they’re welcome.”

Louisiana has a famous Cajun French phrase, “Laissez les bon temps rouler,” or “Let the good times roll.” In New Orleans, a city that heavily relies on tourism, the show always goes on in the entertainment district — even in the face of tragedy.

After the Bourbon Street attack, the strip was closed down as emergency crews tended to the injured, bodies were removed and blood was washed from the streets. By the next day, before all the victims had even been identified by the coroner, the street was reopened. Within a few months, handwritten tributes at the site of the attack had been painted over.

As the anniversary nears, tourists again flock to Bourbon Street for New Year's celebrations. This time, suspended above them are hundreds of handcrafted flags honoring the victims.

Buck Harley, who manages a Bourbon Street cigar shop, said he has had to explain the memorial to patrons.

“We seem to as a society forget. And I don’t think it’s because of a lack of empathy but because there’s another big story taking its place,” Harley said. “I have to tell the tourists what the flags are up there for, because it’s forgotten already.”

FILE - Emergency personnel work at the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Buck Harley, a cigar shop manager, stands outside of his store Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Miguel Thornton stands under memorial flags for the victims of a Jan. 1, 2025, vehicle ramming attack, outside of the Bourbon Street bar, where he works, on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

An opened gate is seen at the Bourbon Street corner in New Orleans on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, the site of a Jan. 1, 2025, fatal vehicle ramming attack which led the city to bolster its safety measures in the area. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)