The wife of an archbishop whose marriage scandalized the Vatican pleaded tearfully to be allowed to see her husband and threatened to go on a hunger strike if church officials denied her request.

In Rome, Maria Sung suggested that the church was holding her husband, Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, against his will after he met with the pope and Vatican officials in an effort to open a dialogue and avert his excommunication.

Milingo, a Zambian who traveled to Italy with his South Korean wife, met Tuesday with the pope to discuss his reasons for getting married in a mass wedding held by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's church. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said Milingo should be left alone to pray.