Behind the church's altar, Father Moretti placed a wooden cross showing mud huts and tall glass buildings as well as an outline of the country's map "a symbol of the resurrection of Afghanistan, " he says.

WSJ: Afghan Church Endures Amid War and Strife

"You can see it for yourself, " Weaver moaned to a reporter, staring Friday at all the vacant lots, overrun with weeds that are taller than he is, at all the abandoned shells of former homes, many of them still marked with the spray-painted "X" that became the grim symbol of a great American city nearly wiped off the map.

NPR: New Orleans: A Tale Of 2 Cities Since Katrina