Springfield, Ill., Mar 24, 2012 / 15:09 pm
More than 500 people gathered in prayer and protest in Chicago's suburb of Stone Park on March 22, raising their voices against the plan to open a strip club next to a convent of nuns.
“Having this strip club in our backyard goes against everything we stand for as religious women and it tears at the fabric of our whole community,” said Sister Noemi Silva of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo Scalabrinians.
“We are appalled this strip club was built not only next to our convent, but also right next to the residential homes where children live. This is unacceptable.”
The evening prayer vigil was organized in response to the plan to open the $3 million “Get It” club, Stone Park's sixth “adult entertainment” business, on April 1. The date coincides with the Church's celebration of Palm Sunday, just before the beginning of Holy Week.