Bishop set to be sued for millions by his former diocese.

Facing a demand for millions?: Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, then still bishop of Limburg, at the end of 2012 in the chapel of the Episcopal Residence

The Diocese of Limburg presses the former Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst for damages. To this end, the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese appointed by Pope Francis, Bishop Manfred Grothe previously of Paderborn, has made an application to the competent court of the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Rota. An opening of the proceedings has not yet been decided on according to information given to this newspaper. Because of the scope of that decision, however, it is to be expected that, the dean of the Rota, the Italian canon Pio Vito Pinto will consult with the Congregation of Bishops who are responsible for Tebartz-van-Elst. The former Limburger bishop could soon lose their support.

Tebartz-van Elst, formerly auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Münster abandoned the office of the Bishop of Limburg after only six years in March 2014. Then as now, he feels like a victim of Church intrigues and media campaigns, although a commission appointed by the Vatican and the German Bishops' Conference has come to the conclusion that the bishop in the financing of a new Episcopal residence on the hill of Limburg Cathedral in conjunction with close associates massively violated the standards set by canon law for asset management.

After the retirement of Bishop Franz Kamphaus in winter 2007, the cathedral chapter had insisted on the construction of a new Episcopal residence, so that the successor had no longer to live in the seminary. The initial cost estimates for the construction of a new Episcopal residence in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral led the Cathedral Chapter in February 2008 to cap "at two million euros, after intensive consultation with our Bishop, the budget for the previously non-existent residence of the Limburg bishop and the requisite restoration of the historic and listed timbered building standing next to it as offices". A little later, however, reserves to the level of EUR 2.5 million were made to absorb cost increases.

Fictitious construction costs for the public

As the Episcopal residence was officially handed over at the end of June 2013, Tebartz-van Elst let it be known that construction costs amounted to 9.85 million euros. However, only the specific decisions of the so-called asset administration council of the Episcopal See were non-existent. The sum itself soon proved to be as fictitious. The staff responsible for the construction employees of whom some are still in office had long since realized that the cost of planning and construction, had exceeded by at least a factor of two if not three the publicly disclosed sum. Over the summer, the web of lies that Tebartz-van Elst had erected around the building collapsed under the pressure of intense media scrutiny. At the beginning September 2013 the former papal nuncio in Germany, Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo prompted a commission headed by Grothe, a financial professional, to review the behaviour of the bishop and his staff.

After several months of investigation, the Commission concluded in February 2014 that Tebartz-van Elst had spent 31.5 million euros on the construction of the Bishop house - and largely illegally. The commercial-law depreciation of the building has been in recent years to an extent of about 3.9 million euros. Not quantified is the damage to the assets of the Episcopal see which grew as a result of the many extravagant and extremely costly works.

Tebartz-van Elst lives in Rome

The Limburg prosecutor refused last year to initiate an investigation for breach of trust against the former bishop. In this case, the prosecutor's office appealed to ecclesiastical self-determination and thus followed the reasoning of a legal opinion that the Limburg bishopric leadership had commissioned at the insistence of Rome. The decision of the Limburg prosecutor is not beyond dispute. The Hessian Attorney General has least one complaint.

Tebartz-van Elst has lived for several months in Rome, with the highest possible retirement salary of the diocese of Limburg and the title of "delegate" within the "Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization". Among his supporters, he can continue to count on the support of the Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith and that of the Congregation for Bishops, the Cardinals Gerhard Ludwig Müller and Marc Ouellet, and the Head of the Papal Household and secretary of Pope Benedict XVI., Archbishop Georg Gänswein. There is conflicting information about the extent to which Pope Francis is familiar with the details of the Tebartz-van Elst case.



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Cardinal opposes Vatican over church teaching on marriage

Dealing with divorced and remarried: Cardinal Marx lays into the Vatican

Cardinal Marx : " We are going to see that the issue is completely discussed"

Should the Catholic Church allow divorced and remarried to be re-admitted to communion? No, says Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican. The Munich Cardinal Marx does not want to accept this.

Freising - The Bavarian bishops want a broad debate on the way that divorced and remarried people are treated by the Catholic Church. They distance themselves thereby from the Prefect of the Vatican congregation, the former Bishop of Regensburg Gerhard Ludwig Müller .

The discussions on this topic should not be narrowed solely to the teaching of the Church, said Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich at the end of the autumn meeting of the Bavarian bishops in Freising, "The Prefect of the Congregation cannot end the discussion . "

People who get divorced after a church wedding and marry again are, up to the present time, not equal members of the Catholic Church. They are excluded from church offices, they may not receive the Sacraments. Such is the teaching, even if some priests already behave differently.

"Make the voices of the grassroots audible "

Archbishop Müller still does not want to admit to communion divorced Catholics who have remarried, as before, whereas Marx says, "We are going to see that the issue is completely discussed". The response to a questionnaire sent by Pope St. Francis on the situation of marriage and the family was "an ambitious task." The general aim was to make the voices of the grassroots audible " .

The background of Marx's statements is a global opinion survey by the Vatican. State of the Church wants to find out the views of Catholic communities on sensitive issues, such as dealing with divorce and homosexuality. The document is planned by Pope Francis Special Synod of Bishops on the Family prepare in October 2014.

The Archbishop of Freiburg and Head of the German Bishops' Conference, Robert Zollitsch had repeatedly shown himself open to a new path. "They belong to the Church," he said at the end of the Autumn Plenary Assembly of the Bishops' Conference on remarried Catholics. The general aim was " to examine the entire range of ecclesiastical solutions."

The Pastoral Office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg issued in October “Recommendations for the Pastoral Care to support people who are separated, divorced and after civil remarriage”. To support people who are separated, divorced and after civil remarriage. If the marriage should have failed, it is important, "to be close to those and to support them who (deliberately) have not entered into any new partnership," it states in the text. Thus remarried have the way opened to them which was previously barred to them.

Cathcon- the whole relevant passage
In particular, it is necessary to respect and to support in a pastoral
manner the spiritual decision to participate in varied ways in the
life of the Church and consciously to refrain from receiving the
sacraments.

As a result of a responsibly-taken conscientious decision, in the
specific situation, the possibility can be given to receive the
sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, of reconciliation
and anointing of the sick, inasmuch as the required specific
disposition of faith is existent. The parish and consequently the
Church as a whole are lived as a community in which reconciliation
with past life history is possible and put specifically into practice.
This is experienced as positive and strengthening not only by those
affected, but also helps the whole community, to experience the
merciful action of Jesus Christ at first-hand.

Marx calls for restraint in the case Tebartz van Elst

The Munich Cardinal also spoke about the affair of the Limburg Bishop Franz -Peter Tebartz van Elst - and called for restraint. "I would hope that some now will just keep their mouth shut," Marx said .
He left open whether he was referring to the Chairman of the Regional Committee of Catholics in Bavaria. Albert Schmid recently defended Tebartz van Elst and thus incurred the displeasure of lay organizations.

Marx argued for waiting for the resolution of allegations. Marx regretted the increased numbers leaving the church in connection with the affair. The Bishop of Limburg has come under criticism because of his leadership style and the dramatic increase in costs for the new bishop's residence. Currently Bishop Tebartz van Elst is taking a break in the Lower Bavarian Benedictine monastery of Metten.

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Bishop travels first class to visit the slums of India

The Catholic Bishop of Limburg is again faced with financial waste allegations. He has flown first class to India, where he visited social projects, reports Der Spiegel. The diocese justifies the first class travel.

The first class flight of Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst to India met with incomprehension. "Expensive tickets to the poorest of the poor is not following the way Jesus lived," said Henny Toepfer, the spokeswoman of the reform movement "We Are Church" in the Diocese of Limburg, on Monday.

According to a report by the German news magazine "Der Spiegel", the bishop was flown first class to India on official business. On the return flight, the chief shepherd had indulged in first class seats with his Vicar General Franz Kaspar. Ticket Price and Mileage Upgrade for the round-trip amounted to a value of around 7000 euros per person, according to the magazine. The promotion to the first class was made privately with the help of bonus miles from the Vicar General, "Spiegel" was told by the Diocese.

Diocese: used private air miles

The Diocese of Limburg responded on Sunday to the report and explained that the bishop was unjustly accused of extravagance. The long-haul flights were in accordance with the travel regulations of the German Bishops' Conference and were booked by the Diocese. There were no implications for the Diocesan accounts. The trip was financed by funds from the Episcopal See. Overall, the trip had cost about 8300 euros.

The diocese took the premium tickets so that the nine-hour flight should be used for sleeping. The Bishop would be rested to begin an extensive and strenuous program in India, as he would be returning to his everyday working life in the diocese. Only in the highest class, could the seats be transformed into recliners. "The privately paid upgrade to the highest class of service served only the maintenance of the efficiency of both travelers. This was exclusively a financial burden o the private account of the Vicar General."

Criticism of the handling of church property

The mission of 10 to 14 January has been used for the assessment of five social and charitable projects of the Church in India, according to the diocese. It was a very tight program that usually would have to be extended over more days and "would have cost a lot more," it was claimed.

Catholics in his diocese criticize Tebartz-van Elst because of the way he deals with church property. The criticism has been ignited in particular around the new episcopal residence near to Limburg Cathedral, which costs at least EUR 5.5 million.

The diocese said: The "financing of the entire project" is justifiable. The complex serves the rest of the entire diocese and had already been decided upon about a year before the current bishop entered service. The bishop could have the use of a three-room apartment in the rear of the building.

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Sociologist called Marx, new Archbishop of Munich

Translation of a German press report. But nothing to get concerned about! He is in fact a cigar toting conservative.

Reinhard Marx, Bishop of Trier is known as a theological conservative but one who is open to the people. The 54 year old ecclesiastic has the best prospects of succeeding Cardinal Wetter as Archbishop of Munich. Limburg also gets a new bishop.

For months in Bavaria and in Rome, possible successors to the Munich-Cardinal Friedrich Wetter (79) have spun around on the carousel.

Now it is rumoured in church circles that the Bishop of Trier, Reinhard Marx will move to the top of the largest Bavarian diocese. An official confirmation has not been forthcoming but the appointment seems likely soon. The ascent of the 54 year old Westfalian (known for his ‘baroque’ form- Cathcon note- pun on his size and beliefs.) has been rapid: Pope John Paul II appointed in 1996 the former professor of Christian social sciences to the Paderborn Bishopric and in 2001 to be the diocesan bishop in Trier, the oldest Episcopal seat in Germany. In Munich, Marx will not only chair the Freising Bishops' Conference (Cathcon: of the Bavarian Bishops), but also has prospects of being the successor to Cardinal Karl Lehmann at the head of the German Bishops' Conference. Before the Lehmann era, the Cologne and Munich archbishops alternated in this role. Furthermore, a Cardinal’s hat is only a matter of time. The affable churchman is quick-witted, discussion friendly and has no fears about the media. He has overseen administrative matters and pastoral care in the Diocese of Trier, while there was a divisive structural reform being implemented, and has on occasion rubbed people up the wrong way. At the same time, he sees himself as a "Merrymaker in the Faith", seeking "the witness of a happy and contented priest".

Marx likes a strong cigar and sip a good wine. Marx has long acted as a social expert in the German Bishops' Conference. Many anecdotes are associated with his surname. In the GDR era, he says, "the border guards were surprised by the “Christian Democrat Marx." When the professor, following the collapse of communism, held seminars in East Germany on Catholic social doctrine, he could not resist pointed remark:

"For 40 years have you been waiting for Marx. Well, he came and is a Catholic priest." According to media reports, the only remaining favorite in the Cardinal Wetter-succession stakes is not a nostalgic for redistribution of the "Heart of Jesus Marxist" type. His ideas about the reform of the welfare state in the direction of greater self-responsibility and subsidiarity are more neo-social and conform with the key messages of the new CSU-Basic Programme. His criticism of "inflated manager salaries" has been shared by the former Bavarian Minister-President Edmund Stoiber. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether and how Marx will continue the traditionally close relationship between the Catholic Church and CSU-lead state government. Theologically, ecclesiastically, and especially liturgically Marx thinks as a conservative. "We cannot depend on opinion polls to decide on what we believe," he says. And: "He who marries the spirit of the age, is tomorrow a widower (CS Lewis original Cathcon note)" When the Saarbrück priest and theology professor, Gotthold Hasenhüttl invited evangelical Christians to communion at one of the fringe events of the First Ecumenical Church Day in 2003 in Berlin (although this was forbidden), Marx was forced to intervene. As the responsible local bishop, he suspended Hasenhüttl from his offices. The professor had too demonstratively violated the good order of the church. Limburg also gets a new chief shepherd. Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst is to be the successor of Bishop Kamphaus.

Champagne or Orange Juice. Bishop Marx with Cardinal Lehmann