London Man Is Ordained, Bishop Says 4

By Randy Richmond
London Free Press
November 15, 2012

http://www.lfpress.com/2012/11/16/man-a-priest-in-this-church-bishop-says


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.

The diocese said it was informed Mertick was offering his services as a priest to funeral homes and nursing homes.

Mertick has a colourful past that has involved more than 150 convictions but lately, having served a sentence and parole for a 2008 conviction, has kept clean and out of the limelight.