ILLINOIS
Daily Herald
Steve Zalusky
Shock, sadness and surprise were expressed by worshippers the day after a prominent priest was removed as rector of a Des Plaines shrine.
Rev. Marco A. Mercado was relieved of his duties Saturday at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe because of his “inappropriate relationship with an adult man,” according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The shrine draws more than 100,000 people for its annual observance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a 36-hour event on the Maryville campus at Central and River roads.
“I feel surprised, because, for me, he was a very good person and he helped out a lot here,” said Georgina Rodriguez of Chicago.
“I heard he was a good guy,” said Dexter Jasso, of Evanston, whose father attends the church. “He was a director. He was pretty much raising money for the church, and he had plans for making it bigger, growing it,”
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