Wednesday, August 8, 2001

Married bishop meets
the Pope

THE VATICAN: A 71-year-old Zambian archbishop who is under threat of excommunication for getting married held talks yesterday with Pope John Paul II at his summer residence in Italy, the Vatican said.

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of Lusaka spent about 30 minutes inside the pope's residence at Castelgandolfo outside Rome.

"The meeting opens dialogue which, we hope, will lead to positive developments," said Father Ciro Benedettini, a Vatican spokesman.

Archbishop Milingo has been ordered to separate from his wife, a South Korean doctor, Maria Sung, whom he married in a mass wedding ceremony conducted by the Rev Sun Myung Moon on May 27th.

In a letter sent to the pope, and made public three weeks ago, the archbishop said he had not married for lust. "I have not married for concupiscence. At the age of 71, sexual impulses are reduced to a minimum. I married with God in mind, and was pushed by a deep desire to renew pure and honest faith, denouncing serious sins in the moral domain which have hurt and weakened the Catholic clergy," he wrote.

The church has said he faces sanctions if he does not cut ties with the Unification Church by August 20th. - (AFP)