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Pope meets 'Moonie' archbishop


Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, the controversial 71-year-old Zambian archbishop under threat of excommunication for joining the Moonies and marrying at a group wedding, was received by the Pope yesterday. The private meeting at the Pope's summer residence at Castelgandolfo, near Rome. Afterwards, the Vatican put out a statement saying that dialogue had begun with the archbishop which might lead to positive developments. A spokesman for the Archbishop said that he had sought the papal audience to explain his belief that priests should be allowed to marry and have families. The archbishop's recent marriage to a South Korean acupuncturist at a mass wedding in New York was arranged by the Moonies, a sect run by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. They regularly hold mass weddings and claim four and a half million members. The Vatican, which has given the archbishop until 20 August to renounce his marriage, publicly promise to remain celibate, leave the Moonies and re-affirm his allegiance to the Pope. Archbishop Milingo, 71, has been at the centre of controversy for nearly 20 years. He was recalled to Rome from his former post as head of the Catholic Church in Zambia in 1983 after being accused of witchcraft.

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