The president of the German bishops' conference said he is following
with "great attention and great concern" the case of a bishop accused of
making false statements in court and under fire for allegedly spending
close to $40 million in renovations and new construction on his
residence and diocesan offices.
Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the bishops' conference president and
recently retired archbishop of Freiburg, told reporters Monday that the
conference has formed a commission to investigate the project in the
diocese of Limburg, and he expected the head of the diocese, Bishop
Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, to do some serious "self-examination."
Zollitsch arrived in Rome on Sunday for the plenary meeting of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization and for a regularly
scheduled meeting of the officers of the bishops' conference with Pope
Francis.
"I take the situation in Limburg very seriously," Zollitsch said. He
said the situation in Limburg would be one of the topics of his meeting
with the pope.
A Limburg diocese spokesman confirmed that Tebartz-van Elst flew to
Rome on Sunday but would not say when or how long he would be away.
"The bishop has made it clear that any decision about his service as a
bishop lies in the hands of the Holy Father (Pope Francis)," said a
statement from the diocese. "He sees and regrets that many believers are
suffering under the current situation."
Tebartz-van Elst has been accused of living extravagantly while
cutting diocesan programs.
For example, the renovation included the
installation of a free-standing bathtub with a headrest valued at
$20,000.
Questions also have been raised about how the renovation and
construction project was funded and whether the bishop followed the
requirements of canon law that large expenditures be approved by the
diocesan finance council, the Vatican, or both.
According to Zollitsch, the investigating commission includes experts
in canon law, finance and construction. He said the members were to
begin their work this week and "clarify the costs" of the project, "how
it was financed" and "how decisions were made to finance it."
In a separate allegation involving luxury, a state prosecutor in
Hamburg issued an indictment against Tebartz-van Elst on Oct. 10,
claiming he had given false testimony.
The bishop had sued the magazine Der Spiegel for an article alleging the bishop flew first class on a trip to India for charity work.
In early September, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the
Congregation for Bishops, sent retired Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo to visit
the diocese to promote peace between the bishop and some of the
diocese's priests.
In the end, the bishop agreed to publish figures
about the construction project and to cooperate with the bishops'
conference commission.
Local media also report that in protest, Catholics are leaving the
church by deregistering their Catholic affiliation, which stops payment
of church taxes.
While the Limburg district court usually sees three to
four deregistrations a week, 20 people left the church on Oct. 10 alone,
according to the court.
Public outcry has reached such a level that the German government commented on the situation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she considers the Limburg affair
to be a great burden for Catholics, government spokesman Steffen
Seibert said, according to a report Monday in Die Welt.
Seibert
said it is obvious that "a very difficult situation has been created
for Catholic Christians [in Limburg] and their church."
"The German Government has no advice or suggestions to make but may I
express the hope that a solution is found for the faithful and for the
trust of people in their Church," he said, according to Die Welt.
Local media also reported that when Tebartz-van Elst flew to Rome on
Sunday, he flew economy class on the Irish budget airline Ryanair. The
diocese did not confirm this report.