Blue murder in the cathedral

Blue murder in

the cathedral

THE BATTLE of the Shouting Women of Pennsylvania continues. Last week we told the tale of Joan Sudwoj and Cynthia Balconi, who splashed holy water about and shouted the Rosary so loudly that baptisms and Mass were disrupted, sermons and choir drowned out and their Greensburg parish generally put in an uproar.

On Tuesday, the parish succeeded in a court action to have them banned. The pair then smoothly moved operations to the city's Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, where Sudwoj in particular bellowed out the mysteries of the Rosary so vehemently that confessions had to be shouted to be heard. The cathedral too then got the women banned, and when they arrived for Good Friday services, armed deputies blocked the doors and then frog-marched them off to the police station.

I have a feeling that both church and state have underestimated the spirit of these strong-minded women. We hope yet to hear the nasal twang of outer Pittsburgh ring out through the halls of the Lateran.