MILINGO-MOON May-25-2001 (950 words) With photo. xxxn
Unification Church says Catholic archbishop to wed in New York
By Tracy Early and John Thavis
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, a former Vatican official internationally known for his healing ministry, will be married May 27 in a New York ceremony performed by the Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, said a May 25 media advisory.

The announcement from a group called ``We Will Stand'' said the archbishop would be among 50 clergy participants in the international marriage blessing ceremony.

Among the others were Archbishop George Augustus Stallings Jr., a former priest of the Archdiocese of Washington who was excommunicated in 1990 after forming the African-American Catholic Congregation and declaring it independent from Rome.

Archbishop Milingo, who disappeared from Italy about a week earlier, could not be reached for comment.

The Rev. Phillip Schanker, press contact for ``We Will Stand,'' said May 25 that within the previous ``day or so,'' Archbishop Milingo had ``gone into prayer.'' He said the archbishop was expected to release a statement before the wedding, but would not speak to the press before the ceremony because he ``does not want to offend'' anyone.

According to its letterhead, ``We Will Stand'' is an organization sponsored by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, commonly known as the Unification Church; the American Clergy Leadership Conference; the American Family Coalition; and the Martin Luther King Family Life Institute.

Archbishop Milingo's decision came as a surprise to Vatican officials and the archbishop's friends in Rome, who expressed dismay at his apparent decision and said May 25 they still hoped he would call it off.

Vatican press spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said: ``This strange piece of news has reached us exclusively through third parties. We cannot comment until we have information from the person concerned, Archbishop Milingo.''

One Vatican source said: ``The first victims of this step are his own followers, who are going to feel betrayed. This is a pastoral drama, above all for people of good faith.''

He said that if Archbishop Milingo ends up joining the Rev. Moon's Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, it would delegitimize his ``healing ministry'' that has been so popular in Italy and elsewhere for many years.

The source said one could conceivably understand if Archbishop Milingo felt disappointed at his treatment by the Vatican over the years, but said it was difficult to imagine him joining Rev. Moon's organization, which the Vatican considers a cult.

``Where have we come to? People are going to say he was an impostor,'' the source said.

Other sources close to Archbishop Milingo in Rome said the archbishop had been incommunicado for more than a week after phoning from New York. They were concerned and worried that there was no way to contact him as he prepared to take this step.

The sources said three nuns of a religious order founded by the archbishop had flown from Zambia to New York to try to find him, convinced they could talk him out of taking such a drastic step.

They said the Vatican Secretariat of State had made several futile efforts to contact Archbishop Milingo, too.

The friends of the archbishop said they were particularly concerned because the Vatican had recently approved a papal audience for Archbishop Milingo, which he had been seeking for years. It seemed strange to them that Archbishop Milingo would ignore that opportunity.

They said that before he ceased communication, he also failed to cancel a number of scheduled appearances in Italy and elsewhere.

Archbishop Milingo, who turns 71 June 13, has clashed several times with the Vatican and local Italian bishops over his faith-healing meetings and his practice of exorcism.

Until 1983, Archbishop Milingo was head of the Archdiocese of Lusaka, Zambia. In 1982 he was summoned to Rome and questioned about accusations of sorcery, theft and divisive pastoral leadership -- all of which he denied. He nevertheless was divested of his archdiocese.

After that the archbishop was named a special delegate to the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers. Vatican sources said he rarely worked at the office, and he was quietly dropped from the council in 1999 -- although he remains listed as a consultor.

Over the years he gained a big following in Italy as he presided over prayer sessions that combined healing with casting out of evil spirits. The sessions were often held in hotels because local pastors refused him permission to use their churches.

In 1996 the Vatican ordered Archbishop Milingo to stop holding the events unless he had the local bishop's permission. One of the chief complaints against the archbishop came from Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of Milan, Italy.

For years, Archbishop Milingo has complained that he has not been able to meet directly with Pope John Paul, and he said he has been physically blocked by papal aides when he tried to approach the pope at public events.

In 1997, he published an autobiography, ``Healer of Souls,'' which he dedicated to the pope. In 1998 he released a CD of inspirational songs he had written, performing the lead vocals.

In 1999, Archbishop Milingo appeared at a wedding ceremony conducted by Rev. Moon in South Korea, prompting the country's bishops to complain to the Vatican, sources in Rome said.

Last year, Archbishop Milingo conducted the opening prayer at a similar wedding event in Seoul for 30,000 couples sponsored by Rev. Moon's organization.

At a meeting of the organization's leaders afterward, one of them, the Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, spoke about the archbishop's decision to become a priest at age 12, saying: ``Hence, it is unimaginable for him to think of living with a woman. There are rivers to cross before he can do that.''

END

Copyright (c) 2001 Catholic News Service/U.S. Catholic Conference. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service.