Rome, Italy - The Vatican said on Saturday it hoped reports that controversial African Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was about to get married in a ceremony presided over by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon were not true.
"So far, we have not received any direct information from Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo. However, we hope that the reports being circulated are not true," Chief Vatican Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement.
The Vatican was responding to media reports from New York that Milingo, a maverick faith healer who also practices exorcism, would join Moon's Unification Church and marry a Korean woman chosen by Moon according to his Church's practice.
If the marriage takes place, Milingo will almost certainly be excommunicated. Roman Catholic clergy are not allowed to marry.
Neither Milingo himself nor his spokesman could be reached. Official Vatican sources told Reuters the Holy See is not in contact with Milingo at present.
If the reports are true, the marriage would the latest in a string of embarrassments Milingo has caused the Vatican over what some Church authorities consider his unorthodox methods.
In open defiance of diocesan bishops in Italy, particularly the Rome diocese, Milingo has presided at colorful masses and meetings, at some of which he has carried out impromptu exorcisms.
In September last year Milingo, a Zambian who moved to Rome in 1983, was quietly stripped of his job in a Vatican department.
In November, the Vatican issued strict new rules aimed at curbing unauthorized exorcism and faith healing. Milingo was not mentioned by name, but many of the rules seemed to be directed at him.
Navarro-Valls said in the statement that Milingo had not held posts in dioceses or in the Roman Curia for some time.
Copyright 2001 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.