In a tearful television interview recorded just before his departure for Rome, retired Zimbabwe Archbishop Pius Ncube has admitted adultery but also spoken out strongly against abuses by the Mugabe government.Zimbabwe Journalists reports that the Holy See has summonsed Archbishop Pius Ncube to Rome on the eve of the Zimbabwe presidential election this weekend.
The paper reports that the outspoken cleric has been silenced in the wake of last year's allegations that he had an affair with a married parishioner.
Sources in Rome close to the Holy See told the paper that Ncube has been ordered to stop speaking out about conditions in his devastated country, which has the world's lowest life expectancy and highest inflation rate.
The Vatican requires an explanation from Ncube concerning allegations by Mugabe that the archbishop broke his vow of celibacy.
However, in an interview just before he boarded his plane for Rome, Ncube is reported to have admitted his adultery.
"It is true, I do admit that I did fail in keeping God's commandment with regard to adultery," he said in the filmed interview. "Having failed in keeping the Seventh Commandment [sic] Thou shalt not commit adultery, I would like to apologise to you, I'd like to apologise that so many of you were praying for me, for the fact that so many of you standing with me in fact suffered so much."
The apology by the 60-year-old archbishop, who is shown near to tears with his features swollen, was directed to the people of Zimbabwe, where the majority of Christians are Catholics.
Ncube also apologised and spoke out fiercely against Mugabe ahead of this weekend's vote.
Ncube was felled by the adultery scandal after Zimbabwe's state-controlled daily newspaper, The Herald, last year published compromising photos - apparently taken by cameras planted by security agents in the ceiling of the Bulawayo cleric's bedroom - said to depict him having sex with the married woman.
Ncube has since stepped down from his archbishopric.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce