Vatican: Married Archbishop Must Leave

AP, July 17, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
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The Vatican on Tuesday threatened to excommunicate an archbishop married in New York this spring in one of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's mass weddings.

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was given until Aug. 20 to leave his new wife, sever his ties with Moon's movement, publicly promise to remain celibate and ''manifest his obedience to the Supreme Pontiff.''

If he doesn't, he will be excommunicated, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which enforces Roman Catholic orthodoxy.

''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,'' the congregation said in a statement.

The 71-year-old archbishop was married May 27 in a group ceremony at a New York hotel. His bride, 43-year-old Maria Sung, was selected by Moon, as is customary in Moon's movement, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

After his wedding, 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.
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Commentary:
Christians can not be involved with Sun Myung Moon's ''Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.'' The latter is a destructive cult, built on lies and deception. The erstwhile ''Unification Church'' militates against normal, biblical Christianity.span>

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