VATICAN CITY (AP) —
A Zambian archbishop whose marriage scandalized the Vatican is
giving up his wife and returning to the Roman Catholic Church,
the Vatican said Tuesday.
It also said Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was breaking off
his relationship with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Milingo was
married in a mass ceremony conducted by Moon on May 27 in New
York.
The Vatican released a brief letter it said the 71-year-old
Milingo wrote Saturday to Pope John Paul II announcing the
decisions.
The letter said Milingo was recommitting his life ``in the
Catholic church with all my heart, renouncing my living
together with Maria Sung and my relationship with the Rev.
Moon and the Family Federation for World Peace.''
``I am your humble and obedient servant,'' the letter to
the pope said.
The woman Milingo married, Maria Sung, said she began
fasting at midnight to force Vatican officials to reunite her
with her husband. She said she would renounce food ``until he
is free to meet me or until I die.''
Officials traveling with her could not be reached
immediately for comment.
Sung says she has been kept apart from her husband since
they came together to the Vatican and Milingo met with the
pope last week.
The Vatican has not disclosed Milingo's whereabouts, saying
only that he is on a spiritual retreat and that he should be
left alone to pray.
Sung, a 43-year-old South Korean doctor, suggested Monday
that she may be pregnant. But she said she was not worried
about possible health risks from her fast and will only drink
water.
Milingo had been threatened with excommuncation for
marrying Sung. Milingo has said priests need not be celibate
and that God's blessings were meant to be given through the
family.
Most Catholics consider Moon's doctrines well beyond the
bounds of traditional Christianity. For instance, Moon's
followers regard Moon as the messiah who is completing the
salvation Jesus Christ failed to accomplish.
In each of the past two years, Milingo has appeared at
group weddings conducted by Moon. The rituals, called ``Holy
Blessing Ceremonies,'' are a central practice of Moon's
religion, and Moon arranges the marriages personally.
| | | | | | | | | |
Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights
reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
Email this story to a
friend
Print this
story
