Archbishop Milingo defies warning from Rome

CWNews reported today that:

Sep. 18 - The Vatican has warned Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo that he risks suspension if he continues to flout Church discipline, the African prelate has told Associated Press.

Archbishop Milingo spoke on Sunday evening, September 17, at a New Jersey conference organized by proponents of a married priesthood. He was accompanied by Maria Sung (who now identifies herself as Maria Milingo), the Korean woman to whom he was joined by Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a mass ceremony organized by the Unification Church in 2001.

Since his return to the Catholic Church after that attempted marriage in 2001, Archbishop Milingo had lived quietly outside Rome until this summer, when he unexpectedly left Italy, traveled to the US, and appeared at a forum in Washington, DC, arguing for married priests. He has continued to lobby for an end to priestly celibacy, while telling reporters that he has joined other former Catholic priests associated with the Moon cult.

Archbishop Milingo showed Associated Press a letter from Cardinal Giovanni Battista , the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, warning him to cease his activities, which the cardinal described as "completely contrary to the obligation of every bishop." The African archbishop said that he had no intention of complying with the Vatican demand.