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Priest in Scranton Rings Church Bells when Eagles Win Super Bowl

SCRANTON — Many people in Scranton were alerted to the Eagles Super Bowl win Sunday night with a familiar sound. Church bells rang from one of the city...

SCRANTON -- Many people in Scranton were alerted to the Eagles Super Bowl win Sunday night with a familiar sound.

Church bells rang from one of the city's largest churches. Its priest is one of the city's biggest Eagles fans.

It's a well-known fact at Mary Mother of God Parish on William Street in Scranton that Father Cyril Edwards is a big Philadelphia Eagles fan. If you walk into the parish office, you're greeted by a cardboard cutout of Father Edwards in an Eagles jersey.

So, it was pretty obvious that Father Edwards had something to do with the church bells ringing just after 10 p.m. Sunday, not to signify the start of Mass, but to acknowledge a prayer answered.

"People of my age are not old enough to remember the last world championship in 1960, and certainly people of my age felt that we might not live to see the championship ever come back to our town," Father Edwards said.

Father Edwards felt most comfortable watching the Super Bowl by himself in the rectory. But when the Eagles won, he went over to the sanctuary to the back room where the switch is to ring the bell.

"All of north Scranton knew that we had won, as if they didn't know already!" he said.

Parishioners who live nearby came to celebrate with him. Soon, anyone in the neighborhood who was not glued to the TV knew what had happened and what it meant to Father Edwards.

He said Eagles fans represent a good lesson in faith.

"Fans like myself have been following the Eagles through a lot of good times and bad, and that's life. There's ups and there's downs. That's a very religious point. There's ups and there's downs, but the real fan sticks with his team no matter what. The real family sticks together no matter what," Father Edwards said.

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