Limburg Bishop Scandal:now It's Rome's Turn to Straighten Things out
By Guido Horst
Never before has the German Church seen a media campaign on the same scale as the one launched against the Bishop of Limburg The list of bishops who should be packing their bags in light of the fierce media campaign launched against them in German-speaking lands, is by no means short: the Vatican moved Bishop Wolfgang Haas of Chur away from Switzerland and out of the press and ecclesiastical leadership’s firing line, to the safe haven of the Archdiocese of Valduz in Lichtenstein, established for him in 1997. In 1995 the press sullied Viennese cardinal Hans Hermann Groer’s name, accusing him of sexual molestation, but these accusations came to nothing thanks to the zealous intervention of former suffragan bishop, Christoph Schönborn. Similarly, in Austrian in 2004, Kurt Krenn of Sankt Pölten was forced to step back after years of attacks and accusations of sexual abuse scandals in his Seminary. Another scandal broke out in Germany, in 2010, involving the Bishop of Augusta Walter Mixa. He was not convincing enough in his defence against charges that he beat school children in his years as a religious studies teacher. He ended up handing in his resignation. Now, it is the fate of the Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, that is hanging by a thread. The bishop apparently spent gigantic sums of money on a lavish new bishop’s residence and diocesan centre and gave false statements to the press regarding a first-class flight he took to India. All these cases, from Groer to Tebartz-van Elst, have something in common: all of these bishops had or have fully embraced the “Roman line” (this is not necessarily a given for prelates in the German-speaking world) and enjoyed the strong support of the Pope in office. There is a growing fear among Germany’s “conservative” bishops, that the media could from one moment to the next target another one of their unpopular confreres. They may do so if one of these bishops seems to them to be too faithful to Rome and too traditionalist. The media campaign against the Bishop of Limburg took place on a scale that never been seen before. The assault on Tebartz began in 2010, just two years after he had take over from his predecessor, Franz Kamphaus. German news magazine Der Spiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper were the first to set the dogs on Bishop Tebartz. Their goal was to prove that this young-looking prelate was in fact an inhibited authoritarian who was incapable of communicating and was basically insane. Following a trip to India the bishop wrote a formal letter to Der Spiegel saying he had flown “business class”. In actual fact though he had been upgraded to “first class” thanks to his Vicar General’s air miles. A Hamburg district court is dealing with the case. But what caused the biggest uproar was “the price tag on construction of Tebartz-van Elst's new bishop's headquarters and residence” in central Limburg, as Der Spiegel put it. In actual fact it was his predecessor Kamphaus who commissioned the project, with restructuring work beginning under Tebartz. The scandal exploded on 3 October when it emerged that the sum earmarked for the project had skyrocketed from 5 million Euros to 31 million. Here is what went on backstage: Given the deep split in the diocese, the Vatican sent the Governorate’s former head and former Nuncio to Berlin, Mgr. Giovanni Lajolo, to Limburg, to hold “fraternal talks” with all parties involved. Frankfurt is a part of the Diocese of Limburg and the dean of Frankfurt cathedral, Johannes zu Eltz has sided against Tebartz in this internal dispute. Lajolo had to promise Tebartz to have the construction and all related expenses checked by an external commission that did not have links to the German Bishops’ Conference. Only then did Tebartz reveal the real figures spent to the local council in charge of administering Church property. The Limburg bishopric is valued at around a hundred million Euros. Three retired lawyers who are also financial experts and good Catholics are honorary members of administrative council that is responsible for overseeing Episcopal finances. But the bishop had not informed the council about the actual increase in the figures spent until he was forced to, following Lajolo’s visit. This infuriated some members of the council, who turned to the press, causing the scandal to escalate. In no time at all, the internet was awash with bills and documents which proved that Tebartz had made costs go through the roof by making changes to the original project during the course of the construction work. Bishop Tebartz traveled to Rome on Sunday to place his fate in the hands of the Pope. But nobody knows if Franis is willing to talk to him. The prelate’s fellow bishops back in Germany are gripped by uncertainty. There has been talk of the media’s unprecedented campaign against Tebartz for three years now. Now Germany’s bishops are starting to turn their backs on their confrère. Only the Prefect for the Congregation of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller vigorously backs Tebartz. Pope Francis has a tough decision to make.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.