Barbara Mance was sitting in her English class at St. Xavier’s Academy on March 16, 1972, when the fire alarm went off. She walked downstairs, assuming it was just another fire drill. She and her classmates were joking that “maybe the old place is finally burning.” Upon arriving outside, they
Sister Sheila Carney chuckles when she recalls the day a few years ago her Sisters of Mercy were urged to call the White House to weigh in on an issue that stood to benefit Western Pennsylvania’s poor. “One of our older sisters sat down and dialed the number,” Carney said.