Rory Carroll in Rome
Guardian

Monday May 28, 2001

A Catholic archbishop once dubbed a witch doctor was excommunicated yesterday after marrying a woman he had never met in a mass wedding organised by the Moonies.

Emmanuel Milingo, 71, flabbergasted the Vatican by exchanging vows with a Korean acupuncture practitioner in the ballroom of a prominent New York hotel.

"After a lifetime of devotion to the church and to my priestly vows, the Lord has called me to take a step that will change my life forever," he said.

With uncharacteristic understatement he added: "I expect [it] will alter my relationship with the Roman Catholic church as well."

Disbelief turned to mortification as Vatican officials realised a 20-year effort to tame the maverick Zambian had spectacularly backfired.

The former archbishop of Lusaka and Maria Sung, 43, were one of 60 couples joined in wedlock by the Rev Sun Myung-moon, whose Unification church, also known as the Moonies, has been accused of tax evasion and brain-washing.

After the wedding, the couples are to remain apart for 40 days of chastity before reuniting for a three-day consummation, followed by a lifetime devoted to world peace.

Bishop Milingo did not convert to the Unification church and said he would remain a Catholic: "I offer my eternal gratitude and respect to the holy father, Pope John Paul II. I am and always will be devoted to the church that I love."

Hours before the ceremony a Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, appealed to the bishop not to go ahead and, trying to limit the damage, stressed that Bishop Milingo had not held posts in the dioceses or in the Holy See's civil service for some time.

Catholic clerics are supposed to ask permission and leave the clergy if they want to marry. Bishop Milingo's failure to do so brought automatic excommunication.

He plans to take his bride to Africa to work with the sick and poor. He said his heart was heavy for those who did not understand his decision but that he was filled with joy at the opportunity to "freely use all of the gifts God has given me in his service once again".

Ordained a priest in 1958 and bishop in 1969, he became famous in Zambia for healing parishioners and casting out demons in ceremonies which used African rites. Vatican officials, alarmed at allegations he was a witch doctor, dismissed him from his post in 1980.