It's pretty clear the good people of Notre Dame de Lourdes have no intention of going away quietly.
Instead they are taking the hurt and shock of being targeted for closure by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and turning it into action.
And they're assuming the stance of their more famous namesake. You know, that college with the somewhat well-known football team?
Just call them the fighting Irish.
Last week we noted that the parish was formally filing an appeal of the archdiocese ruling that Notre Dame de Lourdes be closed and merge with nearby Our Lady of Peace Parish. They actually sent their correspondence - backed with 3,000 signatures and drafted by a canon lawyer - yesterday.
Today the fight is moving into the community.
Signs are starting to pop up on residents lawns, declaring, "Notre Dame De Lourdes: SAVE OUR PARISH."
Maybe the most heart-rending story I heard came from a parishioner who told of one elderly woman who was sitting behind him in Sunday Mass.
She was crying as she recalled attending the first Mass on Dec. 8, 1959.
"It's really sad to see people crying every week at church," the parishioner said in his email. "It's like going to a funeral every weekend."
Wednesday night we will be devoting our weekly live-stream Internet broadcast, 'Live From the Newsroom,' to the situation involving Notre Dame de Lourdes and the fight to save it.
We are hoping to have several parishioners join us to tell of the sadness - and their fight to keep the parish open.
Not surprisingly, our invitation to have someone from the archdiocese was "respectfully declined."
Do you have a question you'd like to have answered about the most recent round of parish closings, which also targeted Holy Spirit in Sharon Hill and Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in Tinicum? Email them to me at editor@delcotimes.com and I'll ask our panel.
Join us Wednesday night at 7 on DelcoTimes.com.
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