July 2001 Africa News Headlines

Thursday, July 12, 2001 - Web posted at 10:34:18 GMT

Zim bishops ban magazine

HARARE - Zimbabwe's Catholic church has banned an in-house magazine after it carried articles on alleged sexual abuse by priests and missionaries and on the wedding of a former priest, the privately owned Daily News said.

The paper said the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference banned the latest issue of Catholic Church News which printed a story based on a Vatican report in March that acknowledged some clerics were forcing nuns to have sex with them.

The magazine's editor said the July/August issue was also stopped from circulation over its cover picture of controversial former Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, who married a South Korean acupuncturist in March."

"The cover photo of Milingo and his Korean wife plus the report of priests sexually abusing nuns were not received well by some bishops and priests," the editor was quoted as saying.

Church spokesman Father Oskar Wermter told the Daily News that bishops felt the "ordinary Catholic would be disturbed and upset by such articles, and that the stories should not have been given publicity".

- Nampa-Reuters

•  Big Brother Africa 3: The audacity of Hazel!
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Who's your winner?