Excommunicated archbishop steps up campaign for married priests

Published: 2006-11-07

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Excommunicated Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo stepped up his campaign for married priests in the Catholic Church with open letters to Pope Benedict XVI and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the weekend of Nov. 4-5. Married Priests Now! -- a U.S.-based organization founded by the archbishop this past summer -- has also announced that it is expecting up to 1,000 married priests at a convocation to be held Dec. 8-10 in the New York City area. In his two open letters, which were identical in most respects, Archbishop Milingo called for immediate moves to accept married priests in the Catholic Church to end the church's "dire straits because of the shortage of priests." The USCCB had no comment on the letters. Writing to the pope Archbishop Milingo cited the estimated 150,000 married priests worldwide "who are ready and willing to serve." To the U.S. bishops he cited the "25,000 or more" such married priests in the United States.

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