Catholics reject return of ‘bling bishop’

TheLocal.de ^ | 18 Nov 2013 12:33 GMT+01:00 | Louise Osborne/AFP

[Olog-hai]

A cleric dubbed the “bling bishop” for his luxury lifestyle is unlikely to return to his diocese after Catholics in the area said he could not come back.

An assembly of the diocese of Limburg decided on Saturday that their bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst had “so damaged” the relationship of trust between him and his congregation, that his return “did not seem possible”.

Tebartz-van Elst became the subject of severe criticism for spending €31 million on a new headquarters in western Germany with €783,000 going on a garden, €25,000 on a table and €15,000 on a bath tub. …

[Jonty30]

Spending thousands of dollars on a garden and table seem a tad excessive.

[pepsionice]

There are several ways to look at the episode in Limburg.

First, Catholics in Germany suffer under the state-church-tax episode....if you declare yourself a real Catholic, then you have some portion of your pay deducted and sent onto the church, period. You can avoid the church tax by saying ‘no’, but then you don’t get a church wedding or church funeral.

So for the past sixty odd years in Limburg....which is a town with a fair number of well-off folks who happen to be Catholics....they paid into the pot. Traditionally, that money gets siphoned off for third-world charity stuff and various shows of Catholic ‘strength’.

Well, in this case, the bishop opened up the pot of money, and spent it on the local cathedral....hiring up local contractors and workman....to repair and renovate. He basically shoveled millions back into the Limburg economy. Thats a once-in-a-million year opportunity for the town to recover the money they shoved into the church.

Second, the chief lesson that Limburg thinks they learned from this episode is that bishops don’t know nothing about renovation or requirements. The church needs to hire professionals who sort through things, and act as project managers. This isn’t the only project in Germany under Catholic bishop control that got screwed up....just the most noticed one.

I’ve been to the church in question...and would agree that everything is high-grade and fixed for the next fifty years.

[Freelance Warrior]

spent it on the local cathedral

The article is about spending on his personal needs (the bathtub, the table, the garden) rather than on the cathedral. Does it lie?

[jocon307]

While your post is informative it seems the locals aren’t looking at things that way.

[pepsionice]

The project “grew”. From what the locals and the Catholic Church admit...it was a renovation project over the church, the residence of the bishop, the area between the two, and a couple of other structures connected to the church.

My impression is that they started with requirements list 1.0, and just gradually added other pieces and requirements. It expanded out. This guy was a priest at best...not a construction, renovation or project management guy.

One other thing that I will point out. Upscale houses in the Limburg area...tend to have upper-level cost fixtures in the house. Germans are willing to pay $20,000 for a bathroom renovation to have the bathroom of their “dreams”. It may be that he just got caught up in this thinking, and allowed a high-end tub to enter the planning, along with a high-end table, and expensive landscaping.

On my walk around Limburg a month ago, I came across this ten-foot wide structure about six blocks from the Catholic Church....between two houses. Someone had spent a vast amount of money fixing up a house that is no more than ten foot wide. Again, it’s the mentality of the locals....whatever is possible (with cash)....is achievable, even if it’s a house only ten foot wide.

[SeminoleCounty]

My aunt and uncle’s bishop...and yes Limburg has a nice Cathedral...my aunt insists on taking me there when I visit

[SeminoleCounty]

Excellent and accurate description...thanks. Everyone should read and take note.

[Freelance Warrior]

The project “grew”.

Having read the article everyone would think the bishop has spent $31m for his personal needs, not the cathedral or the parish's infrastructure.

I think a bishop should be aware of the right proportion between his own and the parish's needs, whatever bad manager he is (while a bishop should be a reasonably good manager, it's bishops' duty historically, he's not an recluse monk).

Maybe some locals don't allow their bishop what they allow themselves, it's hypocritical and unjust.

[wolf78]

Spending thousands of dollars on a garden and table seem a tad excessive.

Only if you count in Euros (780,000). In Dollars it's slightly over one million. Plus another half a million for closets.

Having read the article everyone would think the bishop has spent $31m for his personal needs, not the cathedral or the parish's infrastructure.

Again, that's Euros. More like 42 million dollars. And no, the money wasn't spent on the church, i.e. the cathedral, that was only the episcopal headquarters which include the bishop's residential quarters. While those are also used e.g. for receiving foreign dignitaries, meetings with church elders, and would later be used by his successor (who could use parts of the building for something else), right now on a day-to-day basis the lavish digs are mostly reserved to (and of use for) the bishop and his representational needs.

So in business terms it wasn't like they ugraded the factory, it was more like the CEO went bizjet shopping.

[Freelance Warrior]

Only if you count in Euros (780,000). In Dollars it's slightly over one million.

Thanks for a valuable input. I missed all those are in euro, this fact aggravates the matter.

So in business terms it wasn't like they ugraded the factory, it was more like the CEO went bizjet shopping.

Exactly.