Swazi King Has 3 Wives Too Many, Pope Says

Pope John Paul II today bluntly told the 20-year-old polygamist king of this tiny mountain country that God intended a man to have only one wife at a time.

The pontiff, who arrived from Lesotho this morning, was escorted by spear-carrying warriors and soldiers with machine guns into a soccer stadium to celebrate Mass. He first was driven in the wrong direction, then slipped off a platform, without injury.

Then the Mass was interrupted by the arrival of King Mswati III of Swaziland, who rolled into the stadium in a Lincoln limousine to the whistles of the crowd.

The altar was topped by a turret manned by a soldier with rifle and binoculars, and had a cross stamped with a spear, shield and war ax.

Mswati acceded to the throne two years ago. He has four wives and is engaged to a fifth.

Warned About Issue

The Pope told the crowd of about 10,000 people: “Christians find that a monogamous marital union provides the foundation upon which to build a stable family in accordance with the original plan of God for marriage.

“Hence, any forms of disregard for the equal dignity of men and women must be seen as serious contradiction of the truth that Christ, the king of peace, brought into the world.”

Vatican sources said John Paul had been warned by local prelates to tread carefully before addressing the issue.

King Mswati, wearing red-and-white robes and with five bird feathers decorating his head, listened without expression to the Pope’s admonition. At the end of the Mass, in an unscheduled breach of protocol, the king formally thanked the Pope for his visit. The two met later at the royal palace.

Earlier today, red-coated soldiers greeted John Paul at the international airport of Manzini. When he arrived at the stadium, the Pope’s open car mistakenly drove out the gate, to the dismay of the spear-carrying warriors and Vatican security men.

After returning to the stadium, the Pope slipped off a platform on the soggy field before climbing onto the altar. He was not injured.