What was he thinking, the "bishop of bling"?
How could German Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst spend $42
million renovating his episcopal residence? Hasn't he read the Gospels?
Doesn't he know the story of Lazarus and Dives from Luke's 16th chapter?
In this globalized world, didn't he hear Lazarus at his gate?
Why did he think that in a world where children go bed hungry and
homeless people sleep in cars or on heating grates, even in rich
countries like Germany, he could spend $20,000 on a bathtub? Why did he
fly first class to India to visit orphans? How could he think that was
OK? Didn't his conscience bother him?
He cannot say this was some momentary lapse in judgment. It was part
of a pattern. It takes time to spend $40 million on a home renovation.
It took me more than a year to remodel my mother's little kitchen in
Baltimore. The bishop must have been spending nonstop from the time he
was appointed as bishop of Limburg (near Frankfurt) only five years ago.
It is true that not all of the $40 million was spent on his private
apartments. Some of was spent on his private 800-square-foot fitness
room. About $1.1 million went to the private landscaped gardens and
fountains.
A couple of million went to the fortress-like walls that
surrounded the bishop's house. Some of the $40 million went into the
elegant private chapel, a "black box" of a building that the German
papers said looked like ka'ba in Mecca.
This bishop's house would have been expensive even by the standards
of superstars, sports heroes or rap artists. Michael Jordan's mansion
just outside of Chicago recently went on the market for $25 million. A
bargain compared to the bishop's house. And Mike's house has a full
basketball court. If the bishop had wanted to be "like Mike," would have
saved a lot of money.
Where did Tebartz-van Elst learn such things? Did he learn them in
the seminary? Did he learn it when he did graduate work at the
University of Notre Dame in Indiana? Did he learn it at Munster, when he
was writing about how to teach the faith to adults? Does he think his
lifestyle was a good catechesis for followers of Jesus?
Perhaps the bishop was merely following the example of Catholic popes
and bishops from the pages of history. Maybe he had read about popes
like Alexander VI (the Borgia pope) or Julius II (Della Rovere) who both
loved to decorate in the Vatican.
Maybe the bishop of Limburg was familiar with the Avignon Papacy,
where popes and cardinals constructed enormous houses financed by
exorbitant taxes on local dioceses. Perhaps he has visited Hampton
Court, where Cardinal Thomas Wolsey built the most lavish palace of
Renaissance England, financed by "favors."
Or closer to home, there is
the bishop's palace in Salzburg, Austria. Now a giant museum, the
bishop's residence was once one of the most lavish homes of Europe.
Mozart was hired as the court musician. In fact, all throughout Germany
and Austria, the "lord" bishops ruled in splendor. Bishop Tebartz-van
Elst had plenty of historical precedent.
Even here in the U.S., we have plenty of role models for
self-aggrandizing and self-indulgent bishops and priests with their
palatial residences. Cardinal George Mundelein in Chicago built a palace
on the seminary grounds north of Chicago, including a private lake.
Cardinal William O'Connell of Boston was "nakedly ambitious and
endlessly self-aggrandizing," according to historian Charles R. Morris.
He built a Renaissance palazzo in Brighton. Cardinal Sean O'Malley
recently sold it to pay the child abuse claims.
Cardinal Francis
Spellman of New York lived and traveled like a prince. Archbishop
Rembert Weakland extravagantly renovated his residence in Milwaukee.
Some cardinals, like Raymond Burke, formerly of St. Louis, spend more
lavishly on vestments than houses. Burke reportedly spent $30,000 for a
single set of vestments to be worn at evening prayer. From New York to
Los Angeles, from Boston to Miami, the princes of the church have lived
like robber barons.
The cult of self-indulgence is not just a Catholic problem.
Practically every televangelist and megachurch pastor has his own
palace. Remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and Oral Roberts?
All these fancy homes are a scandal, pure and simple. They scandalize
the faithful and they are a stumbling block that keeps people from
coming to Christ. Better that a millstone should be tied around their
necks and they be cast into the sea, Jesus says (Luke 17:2). Jesus also
says we cannot serve both God and mammon (Luke 16:13) and that we should
"be on guard against greed in all its forms" (Luke 12:13).
People have had enough of this self-aggrandizing pomposity of church leaders.
Even the bishop of Limburg realizes that. Tebartz-van Elst wrote to
his diocese Aug. 31 seeking to explain his actions, even if he did not
exactly apologize. He admitted he'd had second thoughts: "Looking back, I
would have done some things differently. It is true, even a bishop is
not immune to doubts and must be able to bear criticism."
"Mistakes were made," as they say.
Very few people are entirely detached from material things. We all
fall victim to the sins of greed and avarice. I am not a paragon of
virtue in regard to materialism. I live in a nice rectory. I drive a
nice car. I do not live as simply as the Lord would like. But I do not
live lavishly. I live an ordinary middle-class American life.
I think that perhaps ordinary life should be the standard for bishops
and priests. We should live like our people. A German bishop should
live like an ordinary German. An American should live like the average
American.
When Jesus sent the disciples out on their first missions, he told
them to stay at whatever house they came to and not to move from house
to house. I interpret that to mean that we should not be constantly
looking for a better accommodation, but accept whatever the Lord
provides and people offer.
Our houses should be simple, clean and in good repair.
But they
should not be luxurious.
My rectory is an old farmhouse, built in 1884.
Our church bought it 60 years ago.
It was in bad shape then.
During the
19 years I have lived here, the parish has spent a total of about
$60,000 on repairs and improvements, averaging about $3,000 per year.
Mostly, we have just done the essentials like putting in a new furnace, a
new roof, new appliances and new windows. This year, we added a sun
porch, which was our biggest expenditure in 20 years. I live like my
parishioners: comfortably but not lavishly.
The Limburg affair stands as a cautionary tale to priests and bishops
everywhere. Don't spend money on yourself. There is a world of need at
your gate.
Moreover, in the church, there is a new sheriff in town. Pope Francis
actually takes Jesus' words seriously. He expects us to live simply.
Jesus really means what he says when he tells us to "go and sell all you
have and give to the poor, then come back and follow me." (Luke 18:22 and Mt. 19: 21)
What was the "bishop of bling" thinking when he spent $42 million on
his house? He was not thinking with Jesus. Perhaps he wasn't thinking at
all.