CANADA
London Free Press
By Randy Richmond, The London Free Press
Friday, November 16, 2012
A bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church has waded into the debate about whether a Londoner with a criminal past is a priest.
Terry Mertick is indeed “a priest in good standing,” Bishop Gilles Tremblay said in a news release Friday.
“Father Terry Mertick is a validly ordained priest under my episcopal jurisdiction here in Montreal P.Q.,” the statement reads.
The Old Roman Catholic Church officially dates to 1870 and exists apart from the Roman Catholic Church, Tremblay said in his statement.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of London issued a news release Thursday that said Mertick was impersonating a priest and conducting services at area funeral homes.
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