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	Ncube's Exit Good for the Church By Joachim Omolo Ouko The East African September 17, 2007 http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Opinion/Opinion0717074.htm Pope Benedict XVI has done the best thing to rest the adultery case of Buluwayo Archbishop Pius Ncube by accepting his resignation. His resignation will go down well with President Robert Mugabe , whom he did not see eye-to-eye with. Although his fellow bishops had defended him, claiming he did not commit adultery, Bishop Ncube said in a written statement he was stepping down to spare his fellow bishops and the body of the Church any further attacks. Accepting his resignation, the Vatican cited a church canon that "earnestly" requests the resignation of a bishop "who has become less able to fulfil his office because of ill health or some other grave cause." Bishop Ncube has been among Mr Mugabe's harshest critics, saying once that he was prepared to stand on the frontline of protests against his rule, and on another occasion, that he was praying for Mr Mugabe to die so that a successor could end the country's autocracy. Although his fellow bishops defended him, Zimbabwe's state media in July published photographs of what it said was Pius Ncube in bed with a married woman who worked for his parish. The woman also confirmed in Buluwayo court that they have been having an affair for the past two years. Bishop Ncube said he offered to resign within days of the publication of the photographs. But Bishop Ncube is not the first whose resignation Rome has accepted. In May 2005, the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Linz, Austria, presented by Bishop Maximilian Aichern OSB., in accordance with Canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law. The same year, he accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, USA, of Bishop Raymond James Boland. Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, Nairobi
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