Married archbishop returning to fold

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican has announced that Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, who defected from Roman Catholicism to marry, is planning to fully reconcile with the church.

The announcement came shortly before Milingo's new wife threatened to go on a hunger strike if church officials do not let her see her husband.

Maria Sung, 43, said at a press conference in Rome: "I am afraid that my husband is not free to speak with me. I am asking the church, that my husband loves, to tell me where he is."

Zambian-born Milingo, 71, joined the controversial sect of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, who conducted his wedding ceremony last May in New York.

Milingo and his wife travelled to Italy last week, where Milingo sought an audience with the pope in an attempt to explain his beliefs that priests should be allowed to marry and have families, The Associated Press reported.

Pope John Paul II held at least one meeting with Milingo at the papal summer residence at Castelgandolfo, south-east of Rome.

After the meeting, the Vatican suspended its threat to throw Milingo out of the church while talks continued. The meeting took place just two weeks before an August 20 deadline for Milingo to publicly return to the Catholic fold, renounce Moon's sect and leave his wife or else face excommunication -- a total severance from the church.

In a statement on Saturday, the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog -- the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith -- said Milingo had come to a decision after meeting with the pope and being reminded "of his responsibilities to God and the church."

The statement read: "After the lamentable events to which he was a protagonist, he has decided to take a period of reflection and prayer in view of his total reconciliation."

After his meeting with the pope, Milingo told The Associated Press he did not want to leave the church that he loves, and he was going to take time to reflect and pray. But he said he would have to consult his wife before deciding what to do next.

He told reporters on Tuesday: "By this time, I am no longer single and I must consider another person -- my wife -- and her human rights."

However, officials with Moon's movement in Italy said on Saturday Sung had not seen Milingo since Monday, and that their attempts to find him through his Italian handlers had failed.

Sung said she did not know where Milingo was and that she had spoken to him briefly on Wednesday.

"He told me he was facing a difficult fight, and that he was not free to talk, but would call back soon," she said.

The Catholic Church has strict celibacy rules for its clergy, who are not allowed to marry.

Moon chose Milingo's bride, an acupuncturist from South Korea, for him. They were married on May 27 in a group ceremony.

After his marriage, the archbishop asked to be released from his vow of celibacy.

But according to his official Web site and his spokesman, the Reverend Phillip Schanker, Milingo consummated the marriage before hearing from the Vatican.

Milingo has a history of controversy with the Catholic authorities.

When he was archbishop of Zambia's capital city Lusaka, the Vatican objected to his faith healing techniques and exorcisms, prompting his resignation in 1983.

Milingo was then brought to Rome as an officer in the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, but continued public healing and exorcism. He was released from the post last year.