GERMANY
Deutsche Welle
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Germany’s Bishop of Limburg, Tebartz von Elst, the notorious ‘bling bishop’ who squandered millions in church funds on an extravagant residence. DW looks back at the case.
What are the allegations?
As early as the beginning of 2012, Limburg Bishop Tebartz van Elst made headlines with a flight to India. He had said that he had flown there to support charity projects to help children in Bangalore, working in quarries. A noble cause, but “Spiegel” magazine soon found some interesting details about the trip: The bishop flew first class. “First class to the slums” was the headline the magazine ran. A trip to the tune of 7,000 euros ($9580), partly paid through bonus miles and the bishops private coffers.
In summer 2013, however, it was the details about the bishop’s new residence in Limburg that got him into hot water. Instead of the initial 5.5 million euros, the price tag was rumored to be around 10 million. Several German media began to investigate and came to the conclusion that, in fact, the cost must be even higher than that.
Mass-circulation tabloid Bild revealed the pricelist of a number of special requests by the bishop: 15,000 euros for a freestanding bathtub, 100,000 for a chandelier advent wreath, 450,000 for art objects, 800,000 for a garden and 2.3 million for an atrium. A number of those things, Elst had only asked for late in the construction process so that floors and ceilings that had already been finished had to be torn up again. By now, the cost was estimated to be around 31 million euros, though even this doesn’t seem to be the final bill quite yet.
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