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  Cardinal Winning Knew All about My Women

By Janice Burns
Glasgow Daily Record [Scotland]
May 5, 2007

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_headline=cardinal-winning-knew-all-about-my-women --&method=full&objectid=19048467&siteid=66633-name_page.html

Father Nugent told the country's most senior Catholic cleric about his affairs with women.

He confessed to Cardinal Thomas Winning before his death in 2001 and offered to resign.

Father Nugent said: "Cardinal Winning knew of my failings with the women.

"I remember one particular conversation. I said to him, 'Look, I'll walk away.'

"He was superb. He said to me, 'Gerry, I am concerned about you.' He was very compassionate. He was very helpful.

"When I spoke to him about the issues, he promised, 'This is just between you and I, Gerry'."

But Winning's replacement as Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, knew nothing of the priest's lifestyle until the court case.

Father Nugent said: "I resigned from St Patrick's after the archbishop asked me to because my affair with Angelika got out.

"He said he needed to be seen to be doing something.

"So I officially resigned.

Technically, I am still a priest of the archdiocese under sick leave.

"I want to be a priest. If I had been spared, on June 29 I would be 40 years a priest and I had been hoping to celebrate that.

"When the archbishop asked me to resign, it just floored me. I never questioned it because I was laden with guilt."

Before the end of the trial, Father Nugent wrote to Archbishop Conti asking for a meeting to discuss his future after the trial.

Father Nugent said: "Whatever the archbishop has in his mind, I will go along with. I don't think people will trust me now."

He insisted the archbishop knew nothing about the prostitutes and the other women but Conti knew about his drink-driving conviction.

Father Nugent said: "The reason I didn't tell the archbishop about the women was because I had already gone to confession and received absolution.

"If the prostitutes come as a shock, well I have to deal with that."

 
 

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