Milingo "lovingly returns" his excommunication to Pope Benedict

Milingo's reaction, found in the NYT:

"We do not accept this excommunication and lovingly return it to his holiness, our beloved Pope Benedict XVI, to reconsider it and withdraw it and join us in recalling married priests to service once again," Archbishop Milingo, the archbishop emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia, said in a statement read at a news conference.

Asked later about the excommunication, he replied: "I'm not excommunicated. Who says? No, I'm not excommunicated. I'm in line with God."

A person excommunicated from the Catholic Church is forbidden to receive the sacraments or to share in acts of public worship, but Archbishop Milingo said he continued to celebrate Mass and conduct the faith healing services for which he is noted.

He said: "Myself, I have never stopped saying Mass. Never. Even this morning I have celebrated Mass."

I can't say I'm really at all suprised.