Archbishop Cites 'Inappropriate Relationship' for Removing Rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine

The shrine is a pilgrimage destination in December for thousands of Catholic faithful.

“The archdiocese is committed to ensuring those serving our parishioners are fit for ministry,” according to the archdiocese’s statement on Sunday. “Archbishop Cupich knows this news will be difficult to hear and he offers his assurance of prayers and solidarity with the community at the Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe.”

The Rev. Adan Sandoval Duron has been appointed interim administrator.

Mercado was removed on Thursday. Two years ago, Mercado presided over the 25th anniversary celebration of the shrine’s presence in Des Plaines. Last month, Mercado attended the pope’s address to Congress.

His authority to minister also has been revoked.

“As a human being I am not perfect, but as a priest my priority has always been the work of the Gospel and the struggle for immigrants and the most vulnerable,” Mercado said in a statement published by the Chicago Tribune. “I pray that this issue is resolved soon, and I ask for your prayers, at the same time that I apologize if this scandal has caused any hardship to the faithful.”

ViveloHoy.com offers this background on Mercado:

Father Marco Antonio Lopez Mercado was born in Morelia Michoacan, Mexico, on 14 December 1967. It is the youngest of 11 siblings. After entering the Mundelein Seminary where he studied theology and was ordained a priest on May 23, 1998 and assigned to the parish of San Antonio de Padua in Cicero for four years. He was then sent for eight months to the parish of San Silvestre. Later he was appointed pastor of Good Shepherd parish in La Villita. In 2010, Cardinal Francis E. George appointed him director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, before being appointed rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines.