Posted on 09/27/2006 9:52:19 AM PDT by SirLinksalot
Church removes Zambia archbishop
Pope Benedict XVI has excommunicated a Zambian archbishop, Emmanuel Milingo, two days after he ordained four married men as bishops.
A Vatican statement said he had been automatically excommunicated under church law because of his actions.
Archbishop Milingo, 76, who now lives in the US, performed the ordination ceremony in Washington DC on Sunday.
The Catholic diocese in Washington immediately declared the installations to be invalid.
Correspondents say that Archbishop Milingo has long been a controversial figure in the Roman Catholic Church.
Six years ago, he married a South Korean woman at a mass wedding in New York organised by the Korean-based Unification Church - the so-called "Moonies".
He was later persuaded by the Vatican to renounce the marriage, but has since rejoined his wife.
Mass exorcisms
The Zambian preacher was nominated archbishop of Lusaka at age 39, a post he held for 14 years before a disagreement with the Vatican over his activities as a healer and an exorcist.
He was recalled to Rome in 1983 but managed to keep his rank of archbishop.
Archbishop Milingo then gained a strong following in a Church where he had been stationed near Rome because of his reputation as an exorcist.
But Catholic officials accused him of promoting African indigenous beliefs by performing mass exorcisms and healing ceremonies.
Mr Milingo announced earlier this year that his new mission was to persuade the Church to allow priests to marry.
"The Holy See has patiently witnessed the evolution of the events which, unfortunately, have led Archbishop Milingo to a state of irregularity and progressive open break from communion with the Church," the Vatican said in a statement.
The Vatican statement cited his "attempted marriage" and Sunday's ordinations.
The four married men he ordained on Sunday were also automatically excommunicated, it said.
Nothing to do with gays my friend.
This is a rule in the Roman Catholic Church which DISALLOWS married people from becoming priests.
This is the same so called Roman Catholic archbishop who married a Korean member of Moon's Unification Church while still claiming it is OK to remain a Catholic Archbishop.
Huh?
Ping!
I've never understood why the Catholic Church doesn't allow Priests to marry, given that the "rock" of the Church, the Apostle Peter, was married. But....it's their Church and they can make their rules.
Married men will someday have to be allowed to serve as Catholic priests or else there won't be any left....assuming practicing homosexuals are also excluded.
Sad.
Back when AB Milingo got married, I wondered why JPII didn't just laicize him, and send him packing..I found it rather irritating as Milingo has been a nut for many years prior to the moonie marriage. He scandalized the Church by his bizarre actions in Africa, and in Italy.
He's wrong.
He was excommunicated not because he ordained married priests, but because he consecrated bishops without permission.
You cannot consecrate a bishop in the Catholic Church without the Pope's approval - Milingo doesn't get to break the rules just because he's a crazy assclown.
I was going to say that you can be married and a priest if you are an Eastern Rite Catholic rather than Roman Rite, but it appears that there are some other issues other than his Roman Rite status.
The reason Milingo wasn't laicized earlier is because he carries with him a very nasty weapon called "schism". i.e., he appeals to many modernist priests, and the Vatican is loathe to make a martyr out of him to their cause.
Because he consecrated "bishops" in America, it is theoretically possible for these invalid "bishops" to start ordaining invalid "priests" en masse. There's four of them, so it makes sense that's why Milingo chose to consecrate bishops. Better (worse) yet, these "bishops" may start ordaining women to the "priesthood", as well, and may attract a good segment of cafeteria Catholics who sympathize with the cause of female ordination.
The magisterium let this play out as far as it could go in the hopes he would come to his senses before it was too late. It's too late now and we may be seeing the beginning of a major schism in at least the "American" Roman Catholic Church. It's going to take time, but by setting up a heirarchy, Milingo has laid his cards on the table.
It's going to get very interesting, and with the help of the media fanning the flames, this dingbat will drag a lot of souls into hell with him...
I see. So it is worse to consecrate a bishop without permission than for a politician to publically support abortion.
What? Were the rules kept secret from you when you took the job!?
Consecrating bishops without permission creates a schism in the Church - it endangers the very structure of the Church itself.
One layman promoting evil isn't nearly as dangerous as a renegade pastor undermining the structural integrity of the Body of Christ.
It is absolutely and categorically worse.
"Roman Catholic archbishop who married a Korean member of Moon's Unification Church while still claiming it is OK to remain a Catholic Archbishop."
He should have been excommunicated over trying to reconcile the beliefs of the Unification Church (cult)and Catholicism. You would find large number of Protestants and Evangelicals in agreement over disciplining him over this alone.
I can think of two very influential 'laymen' off the top of my head. Kerry and Kennedy. But the church is worried about married men being ordained without permission.
:::sigh:::
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.