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	Pope OKs Resignation of Zimbabwe Archbishop Accused of Having Affair with Woman By Angus Shaw Associated Press, carried in International Herald Tribune September 11, 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/11/europe/EU-GEN-Vatican-Zimbabwe-Archbishop.php VATICAN CITY: A Zimbabwean archbishop who was an outspoken critic of his president before becoming embroiled in a sex scandal has resigned, saying Tuesday he wanted to shield his Catholic Church from attacks by his government. Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Archbishop Pius Ncube, 60, under the article of church law that says a bishop should retire if he is ill or if "some other grave reason" had made him unsuitable for office, a Vatican statement said Tuesday. In a separate statement released at the Vatican and at his office in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest town, Ncube said he had offered to resign "within days" of being accused of having an affair with a parishioner in July. His offer had not previously been made public. Ncube said he resigned because of what he called a "state-driven, vicious attack" on himself and the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe. The state media in Zimbabwe has closely covered a civil adultery suit filed there against Ncube by a railroad worker who alleged his wife, a secretary in Ncube's office, had a two-year affair with the archbishop. "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. He said he would continue speaking out in favor of the poor and suffering in Zimbabwe "who sadly become more numerous and more impoverished every day." "I have not been silenced by the crude machinations of a wicked regime." Church officials in Bulawayo said Ncube planned to remain an ordained bishop and lead a new charity group known as the Zimbabwe Humanitarian Support Trust. Other Catholic leaders were members of the trust, founded Tuesday, to draw international attention to the plight of Zimbabweans suffering from extreme poverty, malnutrition and the high prevalence of AIDS and related illness that go largely untreated in the crumbling economy, said David Coltart, an opposition lawmaker and close friend of Ncube. In July, Zimbabwe state media showed images allegedly taken with a hidden camera in Ncube's bedroom and purportedly showing him with the woman named in the adultery suit. Ncube's lawyer has called the airing of the video an "orchestrated attempt" by the government to embarrass the prelate, who has long been critical of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. In August, Zimbabwe's Catholic Bishops Conference accused the government of making "crude attempts" to divert attention from the nation's political and economic crisis by publicizing the affair allegations. The bishops said Ncube, archbishop of Bulawayo, had shown courage, moral authority and fearlessness in exposing massacres by government troops in the western Matabeleland province during an armed rebellion after independence in 1980 and a brutal countrywide slum clearance operation in 2005. Ncube has accused Mugabe of human rights violations and has called for him to step down. He has also urged Zimbabweans to demonstrate in the streets against the government amid the nation's worst economic crisis since independence. The archbishop has been largely silent since the allegations surfaced, declining to answer questions about his private life in a state television interview. He didn't refer to the allegations at all in his statement Tuesday, speaking instead about his future. He said he would use his experience working among the people to lobby for aid "in particular for food and medical supplies at this time of national crisis." "Recent events have brought me closer to God and have given me a clearer sense of mission," he said. Ncube's troubles come at a time when Mugabe's political opposition has been weakened by internal rivalries. It is unclear whether Ncube will emerge from the scandal an effective activist. In his statement Tuesday, Ncube acknowledged many would be bitterly disappointed by his resignation. His friend Coltart said Ncube "acted honorably" by resigning. "I think he was concerned about the damage this was doing to the church and he has decided to direct his attention toward humanitarian issues," Coltart said. Zimbabwe suffers runaway inflation that the International Monetary Fund expects to hit 100,000 percent by the end of the year; collapsing infrastructure; mass unemployment; and shortages of everything from bread to tractor spare parts. Mugabe, meanwhile, has muzzled the opposition with curbs on speech and gatherings, and has applauded police for beating opposition activists. --------- EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press Writer Angus Shaw in Harare, Zimbabwe contributed to this report.
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