Father Robert Nugent is a Roman Catholic priest and a member of the Religious
Order, the Society of the Divine Savior. He was born, educated in
Norristown, Pennsylvania, and ordained for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
in 1965. He was engaged in various ministries in Philadelphia until 1975 when he
joined the Salvatorians and relocated to Maryland. He was a co-director of the
Quixote Center in Mt. Rainier, Maryland, a Catholic peace and justice group, and
also served for two years as Chaplain at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
In 1967, with Sister Jeannine Gramick, Nugent co-founded New Ways Ministry, a
national Catholic center for research and advocacy ministry in the area of
Catholicism and homosexuality also located in Mt. Rainier, in the metropolitan
Washington, D.C. area. Until 1984 he was engaged in counseling, consultation,
writing, lecturing, retreats, workshops and seminars dealing with gay and
lesbian issues and religion. He traveled widely both throughout the U.S. and
abroad educating church professionals, pastoral ministers and parents and
families about homosexuality.
In 1984, under pressure from the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., Nugent was
forced to resign from New Ways Ministry but continued his work as a private
individual or under various auspices. He is the founder of Catholic Parents
Network for parents of Catholic gay and lesbian individuals. He is the author of
numerous academic and popular journal articles in Catholic and other
publications, including contributions to several anthologies. He is also the
author or coeditor of several books including A Challenge to Love: Gay and
Lesbian Catholics in the Church; Prayer Journey for Persons with
AIDS; Building Bridges: Gay and Lesbian Reality and the Catholic
Church and Voices of Hope: a collection of positive Catholic
writings on gay and lesbian issues.
Nugent's pioneering work has been recognized with awards from many groups
including Washington P-FLAG, Yale Divinity School, the Paulist Center in Boston,
Dignity USA and several Dignity chapters. He has spoken in parishes, colleges
and universities, military installations and professional organizations of
chaplains. He holds degrees in theology and religious education from Yale
Divinity School and the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and a degree in
Library Science from Villanova University. In 1999, after a ten-year Vatican
initiated study of his work, he was forced by the Vatican to withdraw from
ministry to gay and lesbian people and their families. One year later, he was
silenced from speaking or writing about homosexuality. He remains a priest in
good standing and is, with Church approval, engaged in parish ministry in
Pennsylvania and other locations throughout the country.
(This statement was provided by Fr. Robert Nugent.)