German Catholics take 'luxury bishop' scandal to pope

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops' Conference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zollitsch

Excerpt (from Wikipedia entry): Zollitsch is considered to be a liberal in his convictions, and has described himself as being "theologically and personally" close to Cardinal Lehmann.^[1] Zollitsch accepts civil unions by states but is against the term "gay marriage", ^[2] he favours women becoming Deacons. ^[3] In 2009, he said in a statement he was working towards damage control in the wake of the controversy over negationist comments made by SSPX bishop Richard Williamson.^[4] In an interview with a German television station, he answered a question about the sacrificial nature of Christ's death in the negative, preferring the expression “Christ has solidarised himself with the people unto his very end”. This appears in a way as a contradiction of Christian teaching.^[5] The statement however was rather an exaggerated trial to rebuke the misconception of God having needed such a sacrifice, and a way of expounding in what language he would preach about this topic. This led to a warning against falling into formal heresy by Franz Schmidberger, district superior of the non-canoncic SSPX

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BERLIN (Reuters) - The head of Germany's Roman Catholic Church said on Thursday he would discuss with Pope Francis a scandal over a bishop who has been criticized for splashing out on a luxury residence and accused of lying under oath about a first-class flight.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops' Conference, said he took the situation in the Diocese of Limburg very seriously. His decision to take the matter to the pope may raise pressure on the bishop of Limburg to stand down.

Francis' response to the case is being closely watched, because it may show how far he will go to promote frugality and simplicity in a church plagued for decades by sexual abuse scandals and questions about opaque financial transactions at the Vatican bank.

State prosecutors said they wanted Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, bishop of Limburg which is near Frankfurt, fined for making false affidavits about a first-class flight to India.

"I am sure that the Bishop is dealing with this thoroughly and with the necessary self-criticism. Next week, I will speak to the Holy Father in Rome about it," said Zollitsch.

Prosecutors have been investigating whether the bishop lied under oath when he denied a report in Der Spiegel news magazine that he flew first-class to India to visit poverty projects.

Tebartz-van Elst said he flew business class but Der Spiegel has made public a mobile phone video recording of a conversation which triggered action by prosecutors in Hamburg, where the weekly is based.

Revelations this week that the bishop let costs for his new residence run to 31 million euros, over six times the original estimate, triggered calls for his resignation.

Newspapers have splashed pictures of the 53-year-old "luxury bishop" on their front pages and the Vatican sent an envoy last month to investigate protests in the diocese, marking the Pope's determination that bishops should be closer to congregations.

Zollitsch, who is trying to improve the image of the German Church after it was hit by a sex scandal about three years ago, said the move by the prosecutors was of great concern. He has set up a commission to audit the bishop's finances.

After the Vatican monitor's visit last month, Tebartz-van Elst apologized for "any carelessness or misjudgment".

But he defended himself in the German press on Thursday.

"The number is shocking, I understand that. But behind it there are 10 individual construction projects," he told Bild newspaper. "We have built a diocese centre in a sustainable way so that it will be available to future generations."