Moonie rhymes with ...
WASHINGTON - An African archbishop who wants to make celibacy optional for priests installed four married men Sunday as Roman Catholic bishops.
The Archdiocese of Washington did not recognize the installations. "This means nothing within the church," spokeswoman Susan Gibbs said.
Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo - whose marriage to a woman chosen by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon scandalized the Roman Catholic Church - performed the ceremonies at a Capitol Hill church.
Installed were the Rev. George Augustus Stallings, Jr., of Washington, Peter Paul Brennan, of New York, Patrick Trujillo, of Newark, N.J., and Joseph Gouthro, of Las Vegas.
The four men claim affiliation to the breakaway Synod of Old Catholic Churches.
"We are not only validly ordained Catholic bishops, but we are ordained Roman Catholic bishops," Stallings said.
Milingo has said that the head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops has demanded he send a letter of repentance by Oct. 15 to Pope Benedict XVI or face "canonical suspension."
Sad news indeed. We have followed the archbishop's foibles throughout the years. They have been so wacky that they were somewhat amusing. There has been much talk recently of him being excommunicated, though there can be no doubt that this act will lead to it.
I previously wrote the educational game parody Where in the World is Archbishop Milingo. Well this week he is living in Washington D.C. area.
Update: Canonist Ed Peters posts:
By ordaining to the episcopate, without a pontifical mandate, four men (who happen to be married, though that is not required here), the notorious Abp. Milingo has just walked right into an unambiguous excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See (1983 CIC 1382). The only canonical question I can see is whether notification of an excommunication can be sent via email.
Oddly, though, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington says "this means nothing in the Church." I wish that were so. This stunt is not like a woman's "ordination", which in one regard "means nothing" in the Church. This ordination most definitely means several things: it means the episcopal orders Christ entrusted to His Church have just been conferred on four patently ill-disposed men; it means five men are now automatically excommunicated; and it means Rome is squarely faced with a grave violation of ecclesiastical order.
Update 2 from Ed Peters:
Well, veeery interesting, we seem to have a split in the news sources on a relevant point. Some print sources refer to Milingo ordaining bishops, others to his installing bishops. If it was the latter, and if that act did not include ordaining them (one website, which I know little about, would seem to support that interpretation) then Milingo would not be in violation of Canon 1382, as I argued above, though he likely would be at risk of canonical penalties for, among other things, abuse of ecclesiastical power (1983 CIC 1389) and communicatio in sacris (1983 CIC 1365). My thanks to a brother canonist for alerting me to this possibility; now let's see what might turn up over the next few days.
Known as 
Thanks for the humour of your posts but from an asian viewpoint maybe the wacky archbishop has done something that if followed by vatican world-wide may solve the problem of priests shortage!
Wow.
Just...
Wow.
blogpastor,
The Episcopalians have married priests, female priests, and gay priests...and still a priest shortage.
The Lutheran church has married pastors, female pastors and (celibate) gay pastors...and still a pastoral shortage.
We aren't going to be able to 'liberalize' our way out of the priest shortage.
I'm glad to know I now have the man as a neighbor. Well, he fits in well in this neck of the woods.
Didn't Stallings leave a long time ago? I thought he started a schismatic church called Imani Temple and had himself "ordained" a bishop by some other schismatic bishop(s). Then, since he was in charge of the new church, that automatically made him an archbishop (talk about moving up the ladder quickly).
Actually, if they're from one of the Old Catholic Church, they were never in communion with Rome anyway. I think Cardinal Milingo would be the only one affected.
Theocoid,
Stallings is a Catholic priest, though he went into schism some years ago. He probably already was automatically excommunicated for this, but this raises the stakes and is a graver sin.
If it is true that in the recent convention of married priests all that Archbishop Milingo did was to offer them support, advocate for their reconciliation, and celebrate Mass with them, then by his latest action he has deceived 120 married priests and their wives. Ouch! "With friends like these..."
"this means nothing in the Church"
Actually I think this is a great quote. An explaination of being ex-communicated would be lost on the WaPo.
"this means nothing"
It's really hard for the press to take that and run.
Stallings is a longtime shill for Moon. Moon gave him a 24 year old Japanese bride a few years ago. Stallings was one of the main celebrants when Moon was crowned King in the Dirksen building in March of 2004. Stallings firmly believes Moon is THE Messiah.
Milingo was staying with Stallings and is under Moon's influence whether he knows it or not. Moon loves this, he is picking a fight with the Catholic Church and they are too slow to understand that nor do they likely know Moon or his capabilities.
How slow is the Catholic Church?
Moon has put together his final gambit to manipulate the political structures of the world and no one sees it. If the Church did, then they are grossly negligent in not speaking out against it.
Moon spent billions funding the right in America and created groups like the American Freedom Coaltion to gather the religious right for political power. He wanted an increasingly theocratic, homophobic, right wing USA and he not only funded it, molded it, I am guessing quite a few on this site have helped push it. Moon has as much to do with our nation's political direction as anyone and I bet many of you giggled when you read that.
You have no idea, but I bet you giggled.
Well, I will say again, the Catholic Church is blind, naive, and frankly uninformed. Who in the Church has stood openly against Moon the last 25 years as he infested our political system? Beyond Milingo, like the nation as a whole, they have laughed at Moon if they have given him a thought at all - for if they took him seriously, again, they would have spoken out, they did not.
Who in the Catholic Church has spent anytime speaking out against this?
Now, think about this, you have a man who not only says he is the Messiah, that Jesus failed, that he is better than God, and will tell you point blank he is creating "God's Kingdom" on earth.
(As a side note Abass endorsed one of the Moon organization's "peace" conferences in the Middle East, did you know that? They brag that they advise our State Department and they likely do.)
Now back to how naive the Church is. Remember what I said about Moon's last gambit, it's the culmination of all his decades of planning... With Moon, one photograph, one meeting with you accepting his plans in any manner, he will use for credibility forever. It helps him gather others to his cause.
Now the Catholic Church certainly wouldn't help give Moon any help like that, would they?
Go here.
The world is blind. The Catholic Church has no idea what it is up against. They will find out, but what is sad is they did nothing to stop this 25 years ago when it might have done some good.
pray very hard.
milingo is totally crazy. he is out of his mind. i have no idea why the pope appointed him as Archbishop in the first place?? during his bishop in zambia he already prompted some complaint for his "healing services / witch doctor" not only this and he married a korean woman. (currently living with korean woman in USA) and now ordained 4 married men as Bishop???? this milingo not only excommucation from the church, and must face several punishment. In some Islam country, when some muslim man try to form his own islam religion his man caught without listen a word of trial, straight away go to jail. but catholic doesn't have such law.. that's why crazy milingo continue commit crime in the eye of God. korean woman moon is behind all this things. who encourage milingo campaingn for acceptance married priest.. milingo must stop. we must stop him b4 too late. just like the muslim love their prophet so so much. even sspx is better than milingo. African-American Catholic Congregation must shut down.