Archbishop’s Wife Accepts Breakup, Ends Hunger Strike

Ending a saga that had embarrassed the Vatican and captivated Italy, the wife of a Roman Catholic archbishop said Wednesday that she would accept his decision to leave her and return to the church.

“For the great love for my husband, I’ll respect his decision” to leave me, Maria Sung told reporters after meeting with Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo for the first time in three weeks. “But that doesn’t change the feeling I have for him in my heart.”

Sung, who had been staging a hunger strike until she was allowed to meet with Milingo, said she was giving up her fast. But she vowed never to be with another man and said she would try to support Milingo.

Sung said Milingo hadn’t asked her forgiveness, but he did say he was aware of her suffering and that he would pray for her daily.

Sung and the Zambian cleric were married in May by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a group wedding in New York that outraged the Vatican. Moon is head of the South Korea-based Unification Church, which the Vatican does not officially recognize.