Vatican 'forced' Ncube to quit

2007-09-12 15:14

Harare - Former archbishop Pius Ncube, a leading critic of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who resigned after an adultery scandal, was forced out by the Vatican, said reports on Wednesday.

In an article headlined "Pius forced to resign", the state-run Herald newspaper said Ncube, 60, whose resignation as archbishop of Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, was announced on Tuesday, had been pressured to leave by the Vatican.

] The reports said: "Ncube has been forced to resign by the Vatican." In July, the paper published some allegedly compromising pictures, claiming to depict the Bulawayo archbishop having sex with the wife of another man.

It said the pictures were taken secretly with cameras set up by a private investigator hired by the woman's husband to secure evidence of the alleged adultery. He was now suing Ncube for Z$20bn ($160 000).

9 bishops express support for Ncube

According to reports: "Roman Catholic priests are sworn to a vow of celibacy."

It said his "forced resignation is a slap in the face of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, which last month made an impromptu attempt to defend him in his alleged adulterous affair with Mrs Rosemary Sibanda".

Last month, nine Catholic bishops expressed support for Ncube hailing him as a courageous "exposer of evils" by Mugabe's government.

Ncube, who had been head of the Bulawayo Diocese since 1998, said his move was intended to save the church from further attacks and enable him to challenge the adultery charge in court in his private capacity.

He added: "I have not been silenced by the crude machinations of a wicked regime. I am committed to promoting the social teachings of the church and working among the poorest and most needy in Zimbabwe."

- AFP