Clergy Sex Abuse Survivors Blast Congressman's Remarks Praising Suspended Priest

By Lorraine Swanson
Patch
October 7, 2015

http://patch.com/illinois/desplaines/clergy-sex-abuse-survivors-blast-congressmans-remarks-praising-suspended-priest

Rev. Marco Mercado and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez. The congressman said he couldn’t say enough good things about the Des Plaines priest under investigation by church for “inappropriate relationship” with adult man.

A group representing victims of clergy abuse is taking U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez to task for statements he made praising a Des Plaines priest suspended amid allegations of an “inappropriate relationship” with an adult man.

Kate Bochet, a leader from SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, blasted Gutierrez’s remarks and public support of Rev. Marco Mercado as “insensitive,” which could potentially stifle or intimidate other victims of sexual abuse from coming forward.

Archbishop Blaze J. Cupich removed Mercado from his post rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines and the priest’s “authority to minister” while the Archdiocese of Chicago conducts an investigation into a relationship that Mercado is said to have had with another adult man. The priest also served as Archbishop Cupich’s delegate to Hispanic ministries.

The Des Plaines priest was the invited guest of Gutierrez to hear Pope Francis’s address to Congress during the pope’s visit to the United States last month. Gutierrez, a Democrat who represents the 4th Congressional District, issued a statement praising the popular Des Plaines priest as an important spiritual and community leader.

“The Father Mercado I know is an incredible public servant who has built a very important and broad congregation in Des Plaines with a reach that goes well beyond the Chicago area,” Gutierrez said. “I can’t say enough good things about him. He was the perfect guest to join me during the Pope’s visit.I learned a lot from him and hold him in the highest regard.”

Although the congressman admitted to not knowing the nature of the allegations, hoped that the “situation would be resolved quickly” so Mercado could return to work and ministry.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of Abuse by Priests, demanded an apology from Congressman Gutierrez for his “insensitive remarks,” claiming that while his public praise of an alleged wrongdoer may be “politically smart” it is “morally wrong.”

“If Fr. Mercado met a non-Catholic and was honest about his status as a priest, that’s one thing. But usually, these ‘relationships’ involving priests are ‘inappropriate’ because they involve Catholics who have been raised since birth to respect, revere, trust and obey priests, who, according to church teachings, can get a person into heaven by forgiving sins. That’s an inherently unequal relationship, and one that invites abuse and manipulation.”

Church officials have offered no further information on the priest’s relationship with the adult man, if it was inappropriate because Mercado broke his vows of celibacy, or if the other man came to the priest seeking ministerial help or counsel and an abuse of power or other misconduct occurred.

Mercado, who has not been charged with wrongdoing, issued a statement that “as a human being I am not perfect.” He also indicated that he is cooperating with the Archdiocese and apologized to parishioners.