Married archbishop returns to fold

Milingo: Marriage sent shockwaves through the church

VATICAN CITY -- A Roman Catholic archbishop who married in a mass wedding has met his wife to say he is staying with the church.

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo told Korean acupuncturist Maria Sung he could not remain married because of his vows to the Catholic church.

His wedding -- organised by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the head of the Unification Church -- outraged the Catholic church, which threatened him with excommunication unless he chose his faith ahead of his wife.

In a hand-written note to Sung, which was released to the media by the Vatican, Milingo said: "My commitment to the life of the Church, including celibacy, does not allow me to be married.

"The calling of the Church is my primary pledge and the right one. I sympathise with your suffering. I am with you in everything."

Sung said she would never be with another man and would try to support Milingo in his work, adding that she hoped they would be reunited "in the afterlife."

Milingo, 71, visited Sung after almost one month of anguish during which time he had an audience with the Pope and his wife went on hunger strike.

She said she would not eat until she had met Milingo face-to-face but that she would not prevent him returning to the Catholic fold.

The case not only embarrassed the Vatican but also raised concerns that Milingo, once the head of the Lusaka diocese in Zambia, might break from the church and consecrate his own noncelibate bishops.

Before announcing his return to the church, Milingo had said celibacy was poisoning the priesthood.

Milingo and Sung were married at a May 27 group wedding in New York conducted by Moon.

The wedding scandalised the Catholic church whose clergy take strict celibacy vows and are not allowed to marry.