A controversial African archbishop is to conduct his first public Mass since he shocked the Roman Catholic Church by getting married last year.

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo later renounced the bride he had taken in a ceremony conducted by the Unification Church, the sect also known as the Moonies.

I can now say that I have returned to my apostolate

Emmanuel Milingo

His wife, South Korean acupuncturist Maria Sung, accused the Church of holding him against his will, but the Vatican said in September that the archbishop had freely chosen to spend a year on retreat in Argentina.

Archbishop Milingo, 72, will conduct Mass at Casamari Cisterian Abbey near Rome on Thursday.

John Allen, the Vatican correspondent of the National Catholic Reporter, said the Mass will be watched closely.

"There will be lots of eyes on the Mass, in part to see how tight a leash his 'handlers' have him on," Mr Allen told BBC News Online.

There will be lots of eyes on the Mass today, in part to see how tight a leash his "handlers" from the Focolare movement have him on

Poisoning celibacy

The archbishop's sensational marriage began with a group ceremony in New York led by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon in May 2001.

At the time, he said celibacy was poisoning the Catholic priesthood - but he later renounced the union and left his wife.

The marriage provoked fury at the Vatican, which threatened to excommunicate the bridegroom.

But it was not the first controversy involving Archbishop Milingo.

The Vatican removed him from his Archbishopric in Zambia in 1983 - a nearly unprecedented step - to keep a closer eye on him after European missionaries claimed his exorcisms and healings borrowed practices from witch doctors.

The Pope met Milingo personally

He then gained a popular following in Rome. The Vatican issued new guidelines on exorcism in 2000 that many believed were an effort to rein in Archbishop Milingo.

Less than a year later, he married Ms Sung - whom he had never met before.

Archbishop Milingo had a personal meeting with Pope John Paul II in August 2001, after which he renounced his wife.

Ms Sung later went on hunger strike outside the Vatican claiming the Church had brainwashed her husband into ending their three-month marriage and returning to religious life.

Vatican officials denied Ms Sung's claims that they were holding the archbishop against his will, and accused the Unification Church of using her to embarrass the Church.

Forgiveness

The official sign that the prelate had been forgiven was a Vatican statement notifying "any faithful who may be interested" that Archbishop Milingo would celebrate Mass on Thursday at Casamari Abbey his new base south of Rome.

We have some rites that seem like magic, but they are not like that

Emmanuel Milingo

"Everyone is asking me when they can come [to participate in my Mass] and I can now say that I have returned to my apostolate," he told supporters as he arrived at his new headquarters on 15 November.

He will conduct rites of exorcism and healing.

In an interview on an Italian talk show at the end of September, he denied that his practices deviated from Catholic ritual, the Associated Press news agency reported.

"We have some rites that seem like magic, but they are not like that," he told the late-night programme.