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	Priest Is Sacked after Admitting 18-Year Affair Exclusive Church Sack Monsignor after He Admits to 18-Year Affair with a Married Mum By Charles Lavery The Sunday Mail January 27, 2008 http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/newsfeed/2008/01/27/i-confess-78057-20299254/ A SENIOR priest has been sacked by the Catholic church after admitting an 18-year affair with a married woman. Monsignor Joseph Creegan, whose overnight stays with a divorcee were revealed by the Sunday Mail last week, admitted the relationship with a SECOND woman to his bishop. His secret mistress, who has been married more than 25 years, complained to the church after she was dumped by Creegan. Bishop Vincent Logan confronted 66-year-old Creegan, who admitted the affair. The bishop then apologised for the "hurt caused to people by Monsignor Creegan's conduct over the years". Creegan's former lover, a grandmother who lives near Dundee, is known to the Sunday Mail but we have decided not to reveal her identity. She has now told her husband about the affair and they are trying to rebuild their damaged marriage. She said of Creegan last night: "I can't say I'm happy. He is a b****** who won't care either way. I am left trying to pick up the pieces." The priest first met her at a Dundee Operatic Society event and she says their relationship blossomed from there. The spurned mistress, whose husband is a pillar of the small community where they live, travelled the world with the monsignor, who even christened her grandchild. She said Creegan joined the couple on foreign holidays - and they had sex behind her husband's back. Creegan betrayed his vows for 18 years with the woman before he dumped her. Shortly after he ended their relationship, he started spending nights with divorcee Anne Ogden in a home they jointly own in Fife. The mistress claimed Creegan was partly attracted to Ogden because of the large divorce settlement from her husband Graham, a mouth cancer specialist based at Ninewells hospital in Dundee. She said last night: "He saw the pound signs in Anne Ogden's eyes and dumped me just like that, after 18 years. "He has no morals and should never have been a priest. He saw it as a career, not a calling. "I have gone through the worst few weeks of my life and I am trying to get money back from him that he owes me. "Women fall at his feet. I have watched it from the sidelines. He has such charisma and passion. I would watch him woo women all over the world. "We went on regular holidays together abroad and my husband would come too. "All the time my poor husband had no idea what was happening and that is the thing that is hardest to bear, deceiving a good man. "Of course I had sex with him - for him to claim his latest relationship is platonic makes me laugh out loud. Nobody can be happy about something like this but he is finally getting what he deserves." The mistress still owns a half share in Creegan's yacht, Three's Company, but has been in limited contact with him since he started spending more time with Mrs Ogden. She presented a series of emails, bills and receipts to Bishop Logan, of the church's Dunkeld diocese, who acted immediately to strip Creegan of his duties. Although Creegan had stepped down from day to day running of St Peter & St Paul's Church, he still worked actively in the parish and as a monsignor could still be called upon to perform mass. A spokeswoman for the bishop and Dunkeld Diocese said: "Bishop Vincent Logan has suspended Monsignor Joseph Creegan from the exercise of his priesthood with immediate effect. "This follows information Bishop Logan received on Friday about Monsignor Creegan's relationship with a woman over a number of years. "Bishop Logan acted as soon as he was given specific and irrefutable evidence about the allegations which had been made earlier. "Monsignor Creegan has accepted the decision. "Bishop Logan deeply regrets any hurt and upset which has been caused to people by Monsignor Creegan's conduct over the years." A source said: "He was contacted by the woman, she gave him the proof and he confronted the monsignor. "He did not demur and accepted his fate. He knew it was coming and has been out of contact all of yesterday with his bishop who has been trying to reach him." Another church source said: "The bishop took advice from lawyers before making his decision. "He had to make sure he was acting properly within Canon Law. "He is furious. This man has brought disgrace to the church." The suspension is thought to be the first time a senior Scots priest has been sanctioned in such a way since Roddy Wright, then Bishop for Argyll and the Isles, ran off with a divorced mum in 1996. He later admitted having a child with a second woman. Creegan could now be "defrocked" under strict Roman Catholic rules, which would mean he would no longer be a serving priest. But he could remain suspended while he is given counselling. DIOCESE OF DUNKELD OFFICIAL STATEMENT 'Bishop Vincent Logan has suspended Mgr Joseph Creegan from the exercise of his priesthood with immediate effect. This follows information Bishop Logan received on Friday about Mgr Creegan's relationship with a woman over a number of years. Bishop Logan acted as soon as he was given specific and irrefutable evidence about the allegations which had been made earlier. Mgr Creegan has accepted the decision. Bishop Logan deeply regrets any hurt and upset which has been caused to people by Mgr Creegan's conduct over the years.' SUNDAY EMAIL c.lavery@sundaymail.co.uk
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