Source: Archbishop 'excommunicated himself'
By UWE SIEMON-NETTO, UPI Religion Correspondent

 BARCELONA, Spain, May 30 (UPI) -- Will Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo ordain
priests for the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, now that Moon has
wedded him in a packed New York ballroom to a Korean acupuncturist?

 Sources close to Pope John Paul II do not think so.

 "We have cause to believe that there are other reasons why Milingo was
persuaded to do this," a senior prelate at the Vatican told United Press
International on Wednesday.

 "To our knowledge, this was arranged through Milingo's doctor in Rome.
Evidently it had something to do with Milingo's faith healing activities,
which appeal to African and African-American communities."

 The prelate added, "We understand that is Moon's strategy to reach out
particularly to these groups." In 1982, the pope removed Milingo from his
position as archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia, because of the latter's
unauthorized faith healing and exorcism services.

 He was given an administrative post in the Vatican but "continued his
'healing masses' during his tenure in Rome against the Holy Father's will,"
according to the prelate, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 Moon conducted the wedding ceremony of Milingo, 71, and his bride Marie
Sung, 43, on Sunday, along with some 50 other couples. They included George
A. Stallings, a former Catholic priest, 53, who married Soyami Kamimoto, a
24-year-old Japanese.

 Stallings, who elevated himself to the rank of archbishop, heads the Imani
Temple in Washington, an African-American congregation.

 The Vatican has already made it clear that Milingo "excommunicated
himself" by breaking his vow of celibacy. "He clearly excluded himself from
the Catholic Church," the Vatican prelate explained.

 "This would have been the church's view even if Milingo had married in a
civil or Protestant ceremony. What aggravated the situation, however, was
that this occurred in a religion whose theology is out of step with the
historic creeds that Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians affirm."

 Over the last three decades, thousands of ordinary priests have left their
vocation in order to marry. In many cases they asked the Vatican to allow
them to revert to lay status.

 But since priests and bishops are ordained "ad aeternam" (for eternity),
their orders remain nevertheless valid. Theoretically, if they consecrated
the Eucharist, the communicant would receive a valid sacrament.

 In a statement released Saturday, Milingo said, "Now at 71 years of age
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, which will
enable me to be a vehicle of his grace and blessing to Africa and the world,
but one which I expect will alter my relationship with the Roman Catholic
Church as well.

 "As a celibate priest, matrimony was the furthest thing from my mind. It
is only through the command of Jesus, and the counsel and support of Rev.
and Mrs. Moon, that I take this unexpected and bold step, one that I have
wrestled with in my heart for some time," he said.

 Reached by telephone, the Vatican prelate said he did not think that Pope
John Paul II would have relieved an archbishop from his vows of celibacy,
even if Milingo had asked him to.

 "I am not aware that this has been done in the case of a bishop," he told
United Press International. "There is after all a major difference here.
There are married priests in the Eastern churches. There were married
priests in the old church.

 "Even in the Latin Rite Catholic church we have some. These are former
Anglican or Lutheran ministers, who have converted and were obviously
allowed to keep their wives.

 "There is one thing these men have in common: They were all married before
they were ordained. Once ordained, a priest cannot receive papal
dispensation to get married and expect to pursue their calling as priests."

 Bishops of the Eastern Rite (Uniate) Catholic dioceses or Orthodox
Churches are without exception bachelors because only monks are chosen for
this highest ministry.

 Yet Milingo's consecration as bishop will remain valid under canon law. He
could theoretically continue to ordain priests, just like the bishops of
China's Patriotic Association of Catholics, which does not recognize the
pope.

 Under canon law, a bishop must have his church's "commission" to ordain.
Should he do so without this "commission," the priest's consecration would
be out of order but still legitimate, even though the priest consecrated by
him would risk excommunication if he did not subject himself to the pope's
authority.

 In the interview, the prelate stated, however: "We do not believe that
Milingo is trying to do anything as subversive as that. He is actually a
very pleasant man with a lot of charisma.

 "This charisma seems to appeal especially to Africans but also to some
Italians, though definitely not to me. I probably did not have an antenna
for this."

 UPI is owned by News World Communications, a media company established by
Moon.
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Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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