The Vatican is threatening to excommunicate an archbishop who married a Korean doctor this year at a Moonie mass wedding. Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo has been given until August 20th to leave his wife, sever his ties with the Moonies, publicly promise to remain celibate and "manifest his obedience to the Supreme Pontiff".
If he does not comply, he will be excommunicated, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican department headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
"The Church, obliged as she is to proceed to this painful action for the good of the faithful, does not cease to pray to the Lord, the Good Shepherd, for the desired return of the archbishop," said a statement issued by the Vatican department said yesterday.
Archbishop Milingo (71) was married in May in a group ceremony at a New York hotel. His bride, Ms Maria Sung (43), was selected by the Rev Sun Myung Moon as is customary in Mr Moon's Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. After his wedding, Archbishop Milingo said he had "no desire to leave the church that I love".
He said he'd kept his priestly vow of celibacy since 1958 and still considered himself a Catholic but had decided the church needed to change.
The Vatican said it decided to make the warning public because it did not know where to find Archbishop Milingo to "invite him to reflect on the grave consequences of his conduct".
Archbishop Milingo has long been at odds with the Vatican.