Vatican City, Sep 11, 2007 / 08:16 am
Archbishop Pius Ncube, the most outspoken critic of the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, has resigned as the Archbishop of Bulawayo after being accused of having an affair. The Vatican announced this morning that Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the archbishop’s resignation.
The Vatican press office released a letter written by the archbishop in which he wrote that he offered his resignation to Vatican officials in July to prevent the Church’s image from being tarnished. "In order to spare my fellow bishops and the body of the Church any further attacks, I decided this was the best course of action," he wrote.
The Holy Father accepted Ncube’s resignation under Canon 410.2, which allows a bishop to resign if he becomes ill or for some grave reason becomes incapable of continuing his ministry.
Archbishop Ncube came under fire in July when a court case was filed against him alleging that he had been committing adultery over a two year period with one of his parish secretaries, Mrs. Rosemary Sibanda. The court case, filed by the Mr. Onesimus Sibanda the husband of Rosemary is seeking 20 billion Zimbabwean dollars ($160,000) in damages.