VATICAN CITY, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of the diocese of Lusaka in Zambia was excommunicated for consecrating four married bishops, the Vatican said Tuesday.
Milingo, who is retired, performed the ordination in Washington on Sunday.
"For this public act both Archbishop Milingo and the four ordinands have incurred excommunication 'latae sententiae,' as laid down in Canon 1382 of the Code of Canon Law," the Vatican said.
The Latin phrase means that the excommunication is automatic and not the result of a judicial process.
The Vatican also said that the four men would have the same status they had before the ordination.
Milingo, who became a priest in 1958 and was consecrated as a bishop by Pope Paul VI, has a long history of difficulties with the Vatican, the New York Times reported. At one time, he incorporated traditional African rituals into healing services.
Milingo married in 2001 in a mass ritual performed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, although he renounced his marriage soon after.
