The Milingo Madness

From the Vatican Information Service:

VATICAN CITY, JUL 13, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following declaration at midday today:

"The Holy See has not yet received precise information concerning the aim of the journey to the United States of America by Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia.

"In any case, if the declarations attributed to him concerning ecclesiastical celibacy were to prove authentic, the only thing to do would be to deplore them, Church discipline on this matter being well known."

The Washington Post covers the background to this story:

VATICAN CITY -- 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.

...

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."

According to Rocco, "Milingo will embark on a six-month speaking tour of the United States organized by the AACC." What is the AACC?

The AACC (Imani African American Catholic Congregation) is run by George Augustus Stallings, Jr., who has been excommunicated. More on Stallings:

According to the New York Times, Stallings was accused of sexual misconduct with a man in his parish in 1989 and was to be sent for treatment by the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal James Hickey. Stallings refused his treatment and began his own church, the Imani Temple, of which he appointed himself Archbishop. Since that time Stallings has sought to expand his church by embracing priests who have renounced their ordination promises and sought illicit marriages.

According to the Washington Times, the Stallings event at which Milingo was speaking, was to announce Milingo’s newly formed “ministry” to persuade the Roman Catholic Church to allow priests to marry. [source]

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf catalogues the absolute craziness of the AACC here.

The Washington Times has coverage on Milingo's press conference here. Update: Here is a press release for the news conference [thanks to Fr. Seraphim Beshoner, TOR].

One thing I've asked myself is whether Miligon is psychologically stable. Apparently, he might not be, as the last paragraph of this CNA article seems to suggest. I haven't found any references to that effect in the MSM articles I've quickly read about him - but it wouldn't suprise me in the least if Malingo is not significantly emotionally or psychologically impaired.

Either way, he has become a real scandal, and we'll see how the Vatican responds once they get the facts.

Rocco notes this report from Reuters that outlines the mood in the Vatican right now:

A Vatican source said Church officials were "shocked" by Milingo's new outburst and said disciplinary measures could be announced soon.

Sanctions could be as severe as excommunication, the most serious penalty, which inflicts a total cut-off from the Church.

It's hard to see how anything less could be warranted by the situation...

And in case you were wondering: Yes, Archbishop Milingo has his own (out of date) website.

(and if you want some comic relief from this story, be sure to check out "Where in the World is Archbishop Milingo?")

I'll be watching this story.

Update: CNS adds its coverage of the Vatican's rebuke.