Members of the public are being urged to have their say on the future of a parish in Derry.
Thornhill Church in the Culmore area, which was opened for almost three decades, has been threatened with closure after proposals to amalgamate the parishes of Culmore and Steelstown and close Thornhill church were brought forward.
A meeting is set to take place at Thornhill Church after 7pm mass on Friday, July 22. Bishop of Derry, the Most Reverend McKeown, will be attending the meeting to discuss the proposals.
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Plans were revealed in March that the Culmore parish was to lose its only church after almost 30 years of service to the local community.
It's understood that the decision was taken after the Sisters of Mercy Order, which leases the building to the Derry Diocese, informed the parish that the lease would not be renewed beyond next April.
The decision will mean that parishioners who have been attending the place of worship for 27 years will have to travel elsewhere for religious ceremonies and services.
If closed, Culmore is expected to be the only Catholic parish on the Isle of Ireland operating without its own church.
"A lot of people who I am talking to are not happy, in fact, they're devastated," said local parishioner Michelle Burns
"I am asking the public to come along and listen to Bishop Donal McKeown at the meeting on Friday night. It's an opportunity to listen to what he has to say.
"It's an opportunity to show the Bishop that we don't want to break up as a prayer family. We don't want to break up as a prayer community and that the Culmore people want to have their own place of worship.
"I can't keep saying this to the Bishop, it's up to the Culmore people to show this to the Bishop. I know people kick off their weekend on a Friday night but I am asking that you hold this off for an hour and come to Thornhill Church.
"Let the Bishop know that we are all standing together united alongside him because he is a fair man, but he needs to know that it's not just a small number of people that want Thornhill to stay together."
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