The Cardinal Archbishop of New York was not in a mood to banter with reporters yesterday morning:

Edward Cardinal Egan bypassed protesters yesterday and curtly dismissed questions about a shuttered East Harlem church – telling reporters to “grow up.”

“You just have to ignore all this and grow up,” Egan said when asked about the Catholics gathered outside in protest of the closure of their beloved church, Our Lady Queen of Angels.

When pressed, Egan, who had just finished celebrating Mass at St. John the Baptist on W. 31st St., said, “Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

Egan left the church through a back door, avoiding the 30 protesters.

Before stepping into a waiting van, Egan again refused to discuss the protest.

“Madam, get serious,” he said. “This is important. Go in and look at reality.”

The archbishop has been dogged by criticism since the Archdiocese of New York abruptly closed the E. 113th St. church Feb. 14 – a day after six women were arrested at a sit-in.

Parishioners have continued to gather and pray on Sundays outside the church.

Last month, they held a sidewalk funeral, placing the coffin of 72-year-old Carmen Gonzalez at the foot of the steps of the shuttered church. Gonzalez, a great-grandmother who died of cancer, had hoped Egan would reopen the church for her funeral, relatives said. But he said no.

“They think we’re going to get tired,” said Carmen Villegas, a 34-year parishioner of the closed church, who led yesterday’s protest and was among those arrested in February. “But we’re going to keep up the fight.”

Villegas, 53, said the demonstration was an effort to point out “that the archdiocese cannot be closing churches to satisfy a financial need.”

Protesters carried bells and signs and chanted, “Why have you abandoned us?”

Our Lady Queen of Angels was one of 10 parishes targeted for closure because of dwindling congregations and population shifts in the sprawling archdiocese, which takes in three boroughs and seven counties north of the city.

The 121-year-old church is within walking distance of three others: St. Cecilia, St. Ann and Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Still, parishioners said they are appealing to the Vatican.

Photo: by Giancarli, The NY Daily News