Robinson’s Long Appeals Process Allows Him to Be Buried As Priest

Toledo Blade
July 8, 2014

http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2014/07/08/Robinson-s-long-appeals-process-allows-him-to-be-buried-as-priest.html

Gerald Robinson, 76, the Roman Catholic priest who died Friday in a prison hospice, will be buried after a public funeral to be held sometime this week, but details for it have not yet been announced.

Robinson remained a priest because the post-trial legal appeals process had not been completed but was barred from performing public ministry. He was serving a 15-years-to-life sentence after being arrested in 2004 and convicted in 2006 for the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl of the Sisters of Mercy. The Rev. Charles Ritter, administrator of the Diocese of Toledo until a new bishop is appointed by Pope Francis, will preside at the funeral, church officials said Monday.

No media access will be provided for the funeral. The diocese cited a protocol it developed for situations when funerals are celebrated for priests removed from priestly ministry.

The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests and the National Survivors Advocate Coalition wrote to Father Ritter in a letter dated Sunday requesting that the funeral be private and small, stating, “We hope Fr. Robinson’s passing brings some comfort to those he hurt and their loved ones. But any such comfort will be short lived as those struggling families learn that Fr. Robinson is being buried with full honors.”