The people are Notre Dame de Lourdes know exactly how their fellow Catholics in Springfield are feeling today.
It's enough to test your faith.
On Sunday, parishioners at the three Catholic parishes in Springfield - St. Francis of Assisi, Holy Cross and St. Kevin - learned they are the latest Delco congregations to come under review by the Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Committee.
The results will likely be the same sad song.
Not all three of them will survive.
It is likely that at lest one of them will disappear, merged with a fellow parish.
That's what happened at Notre Dame de Lourdes, over the protests of outrages parishioners who continue to fight the good fight, taking their case to the Vatican.
It is not likely to matter.
The Archdiocese continues to face severe economic issues, as well as a distinct shortage of priests.
The process has been ongoing for the last four years.
In that span the archdiocese has shuttered 47 churches out of a total of 266 across the region's five counties.
In Delaware County alone, the number of parishes has gone from 46 to 38.
The chances are not good that the Springfield triumvirate will be able to avoid a similar fate.
Here's the way some parishioners reacted to the news.
I wish them well. I think they will need it. But the odds - and the archdiocese's track record in these instances - does not bode well for them.
In other words, they don't have a prayer.
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