Archbishop's wife asks Pope if she can see her husband

The South Korean wife of a Roman Catholic archbishop has reportedly written to the Pope asking to see her husband.

According to reports, Maria Sung Milingo says she apologises to the Pope if she has offended him.

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo left Sung earlier this month and returned to the church after the Vatican threatened to excommunicate him.

Sung, 43, has been on hunger strike for nearly two weeks, demanding a private meeting with her Zambian spouse.

She has been to St Peter's Square to pray.

According to reports, the letter from Sung to the Pope says: "His Holiness, please let me meet with my husband. We got married in front of God, now he wants to leave me, but I want him to say it openly, I won't make any objection."

The letter ends: "I apologise if I offended you somehow, but we were free and responsible when we decided to get married. If my husband has now decided he wants to leave me, let him say it openly and freely. My life is in your hands, I'm tired and worried after all these days of fast . . . again, I ask you to forgive me and I thank you with all my heart. Sincerely, Maria Sung Milingo."

She and the 71-year-old archbishop were married in May by the Rev Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification Movement, in a group ceremony in New York.