Convicted priest’s funeral rites to be Friday

7/10/2014

Robinson

THE BLADE
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Funeral arrangements have been scheduled for Gerald Robinson, who was convicted of killing a nun and who died in an state prison medical facility last week.

Robinson’s funeral Mass will be said at St. Hyacinth Church, 719 Evesham Ave., at 11 a.m. Friday, and he will be buried at Calvary Cemetery. Robinson, who was arrested in 2004 and convicted in 2006 for the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 1980, died on the Fourth of July in a prison hospice at Franklin Medical Center in Columbus. He was serving a sentence of 15 years to life.

Visitations are slated for today from 2 to 8 p.m. at W.K. Sujkowski & Son Funeral Home, 3838 Airport Hwy., and Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Hyacinth.

The Diocese of Toledo had announced that Robinson would receive a priest’s funeral because he remained a priest while appeals of his conviction were ongoing, although he was not permitted to take part in public sacramental ministry. The Catholic Chronicle, the diocese’s newspaper, reported that the funeral rites would be altered to place less emphasis on his role as a member of the clergy and be closer to the ritual for any baptized Christian, but a priest’s stole will be put on the casket.