Emmanuel Milingo’s Statements on Married Priests Fret Vatican

The Vatican showed deep concern Thursday over a possible new scandal set off by an African archbishop after he announced he was championing the cause of married priests in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican said it was still seeking precise information a day after Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, who had previously faced a threat of excommunication, showed up at a news conference to announce his new mission.

But it also said that if the statements attributed to him about priestly celibacy were true “there would be no choice but to condemn them,” given the well-known church rules.

Milingo shocked the church five years ago when he and a South Korean acupuncturist Maria Sung were united in a mass wedding presided over by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church. He later renounced his marriage and returned to the fold, with the Vatican dropping the excommunication threat.

At the news conference in Washington, the Zambian archbishop said his new goal is to end the church’s celibacy rule.

“I feel it is time for the church to reconcile with married priests,” Milingo said.

He appealed to priests punished for marrying to “come out of their Catholic prisons and be reinstated, taking once more their pastoral responsibility among the married priests.”

The late Pope John Paul II personally intervened to persuade Milingo to step away from the marriage.

The prelate credited with bringing Milingo back to the fold, now Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was chief assistant to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the Vatican. Ratzinger now is Pope Benedict XVI, and he recently appointed Bertone as secretary of state – the Vatican’s No. 2 job.

Milingo, 76, appears now to be back with his wife, although he said, “This is irrelevant.”

Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said Milingo’s announcement of a campaign to end celibacy “comes as a surprise and is also a disappointment” because he had reconciled with John Paul.

“His appearance in Washington has once again placed himself in opposition to the practice and teaching of the church on the matter of priestly celibacy,” Wuerl said in a statement.

Read Another Article

Twelve Tribes: Travelin’ salvation show
Hezbollah: Violence mixed with social mission

Related News Articles Topic(s): Emmanuel Milingo Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Emmanuel Milingo Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog