Aug
17
Catholic PriestsAt War! Rev. Fr Accuses Bishop of Corruption. Catholic priests in the Aba Diocese of the church are locked in a renewed battle that can be described as a holy war, with a Rev. fr and his Bishop trading allegations of corruption. The war, which has been raging for some years now, has led to the suspension of some priests from the diocese and the dragging of the bishop to the Zone 9 headquarters of the Nigeria Police in Umuahia, Abia State where the Local Ordinary (Bishop) had gone on some occasions to defend himself against graft allegations levelled against him by one of the priests. The current crisis, according to one of the priests placed on suspension, Rev. Fr. Onyebuchi Ig. Nwoko, started few years back when he preached a homily in his parish, condemning what he described as an illicit partisan romance between the Catholic Church in Aba “and the failed-corrupt insensitive government in place in Abia State at the expense of the poor and unsuspecting citizens of the state.” This Fr. Nwoko said coupled with his stance against absolute worship of money and colossal murder of spirituality and spiritual life that drags the image of the church to the mud and made people not to have respect for it any more, made him the target of the bishop. This homily, Saturday Sun, gathered did not go down well with the Catholic Bishop of Aba, His Lordship, Vincent Valentine Ezeonyia who felt Rev. Fr. Nwoko went too far, and allegedly promised to “deal with the priest in question.” This pronouncement, it was also gathered, was closely followed with a letter of reprimand entitled “Precept” which the Bishop was said to have ordered should be placed against the priest’s name in the Diocese’s Curia. Rev. Fr. Nwoko, who is also a lawyer, took exception to a passage in the precept which said, “I (Bishop) also confine you to your self-chosen legal practice.” With this, the priest felt he was being punished for telling the truth of what was going on in the diocese and the state at large and the battle line was drawn. In his reply, the priest said: “Most of my legal practice is pro bono as many of our institutions, and the office of the education secretary can attest to. My bishop hates to see a priest that is empowered and who swims in excellence. “He is very cagey in placing such priests in places where his friends are residing, so that the word of God may not smack them. A good number of priests working in the diocese preach the gospel of my bishop, and not the gospel of Christ. However, I will dissect and respond adequately on the said ‘precept’ to the appropriate quarters.” The bishop was said to have been livid with this response that some days later, Fr. Nwoko said in a memo to his traditional ruler in Ukwa East about his lingering crisis with the bishop that he was transferred to the same location where kidnappers abducted one of the priests. This transfer, the priest said, was done for a purpose, “to throw his perceived enemy into the lion’s den, but cannot sharpen their claws to take my life. I am conscious of the fact that if there is benefit or reward at all in our apostolate, I do not stand to be rewarded by my bishop.” The matter got to its crescendo on February 23, 2011 when Bishop Ezeonyia reposted some priests, including Nwoko of St. David, Uratta – Umuoha in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government with the new posting not having any parish. Feeling stabbed at the back by the new posting, Fr. Nwoko refused to vacate the parsonage at Uratta until he was given a new parish and the real trouble began. To ensure that another priest took over, the bishop was reported to have threatened to forcefully open the residence of the parish priest, which was under lock and key. In an attempt at forestalling the threat, Nwoko on September 7, 2012 wrote a petition entitled, “The unlawful conduct of Bishop Ezeonyia capable of causing a breakdown of law and order,” to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the need for the police boss to call the bishop to order. Before the IGP could act on the petition of the priest, his residence had been forced open. The action prompted Nwoko to do another petition entitled, “Case of burglary, sealing, threat to life, property and conduct capable of breaching public peace”, this time to the Assistant Inspector General (AIG), Zone 9, Umuahia. In the petition, Fr. Nwoko accused the bishop who he said has been having nocturnal meetings with Catechist Anthony Enwe, Mr. Simeon Nwokoacha, Sir Ajaegbu, Mr Chidinma Agbara and Mr Raphael Nwaeke, while he was away to Enugu sometime in 2012 for the purpose of breaking into his house. He urged the AIG to investigate the bishop, arrest and charge him to court if found culpable. When it appeared the AIG was delaying in acceding to his request, he wrote another letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Police “D” Department, Zone 9 headquarters. In the letter, Fr. Nwoko narrated how one Joseph Offor of the legal department, Zone 9 Police Command thwarted every effort he made to ensure that the bishop was prosecuted, alleging that “one of the priests, Fr. Innocent Ajuonu (even) boasted that they have settled the matter and that the prosecutor had assured them that the bishop will never be prosecuted.” As this was going on, Bishop Ezeonyia on May 7, 2013, wielded the big hammer. He issued Fr. Nwoko with ‘Canonical warning’ entitled “Second Admonition” in which the priest was accused, among other things, of disrespect to the Local Ordinary. The bishop threatened not only to impose personal interdict/suspension if within 10 working days Fr. Nwoko failed to write him with a promise of stopping his scanting attacks on him (Bishop), but also directed that the Canonical warning “be placed in the secret archive of the Curia and maintained there in accord with the norm of law.” In an eight-page reply captioned, “Threat to impose further interdict/suspension order”, Fr. Nwoko said unless the bishop restructure the Diocese based on truth and recall the priests he suspended particularly Rev. Fr. Ken Evurulobi, nothing will make him change his stance on issues in the diocese. “You may think that you have the Ecclesiastical power to do what you like, but you do not have the power of the electronic pen. Be assured that in the absence of those serious and unfortunate irregularities going on in this diocese, only when the right reason, respect for the human person, justice, equity and fair play are properly put in place that this matter may seem not to proceed further,” Fr Nwoko replied Bishop Ezeonyia. In response to the allegations leveled against him by Fr Nwoko, Bishop Ezeonyia who spoke through Rev Fr. Alex Okonkwor, Judicial Vicar of the diocese said the truth about the whole issue was that Rev Fr. Nwoko has been disrespectful to the office of the bishop in so many ways. He accused Fr. Nwoko of refusing to honour an appointment with the bishop so that there will “be understanding and peace in the diocese, but he refused and instead chose to rage like the hectic in the body of this diocese by spinning out writings, articles and letters that are crammed with insults against the bishop.”
Posted 17th August by Onu Henry Chidi
Labels: Aba Diocese. Rev. Fr Nwoko Bishop Ezeonyia Catholic Churches of Nigeria
Monday, October 21, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Sacked bishop accuses Vatican of authoritarianism
Sacked bishop accuses Vatican of authoritarianism
ShareretweetEmailPrint AFP/Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba – William Morris (foreground), who has been the Catholic Bishop of the vast Queensland diocese of Toowoomba … – 1 hr 24 mins ago
SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian bishop who said he was forced to resign after a dispute with the Vatican on Tuesday accused the Catholic Church of "creeping authoritarianism".
William Morris announced his early retirement on Sunday after being told that Pope Benedict XVI felt that his vast Toowoomba diocese in Queensland state would be better served by another bishop.
Morris, who had been Toowoomba's bishop for 18 years, said he was sad but not angry about his resignation but felt the Vatican had not given him a voice.
"If it hasn't given me a voice, it means it hasn't given the people a voice," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"I think -- and I'm not the only one -- that there is a creeping centralism in the church at the moment. There's a creeping authoritarianism.
"I think in many ways local bishops have been sidelined," Morris added.
Morris, who was ordained a priest in 1969, had come to the Vatican's attention over comments five years ago that women and others should be allowed to become Catholic priests to relieve an acute shortage of priests.
He said Tuesday he had never pushed for women priests, but had mentioned the need for the church to be involved in a broad debate on the subject.
"I wasn't advocating at all," he said. "What I was saying was we need to be open to options so that the Eucharist can be celebrated in our community."
Morris, who has been replaced by Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane Brian Finnigan until a permanent replacement can be appointed, will remain as Emeritus Bishop of Toowoomba.
He has the support of local priests, with eight from the Toowoomba diocese signing a media statement saying they believed "Bishop Morris has not been treated fairly or respectfully".
"We find his removal profoundly disheartening," they said.
German "Bling" Bishop: The Face of a Profligate and Wasteful Church, and Arrogant Churchman...
German 'bling bishop' faces grilling in Rome.
By Ella Ide
4 hours ago
...
...Content preferences ....Done ..
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The bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, is seen in the chapel of the bishop's residence in Limburg, central Germany, on December 3, 2012 (AFP Photo/Boris Roessler).Vatican City (AFP) - A German big-spending Catholic bishop has flown to Rome to try and explain himself to humility advocate Pope Francis as he faces multiple calls to resign over his high-roller lifestyle.
Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst flew in with low-cost airline Ryanair -- following accusations he took a business-class ticket on a trip to India and squandered money on luxuries.
His private quarters in a brand-new bishop's palace are reported to have cost some 2.9 million euros ($3.9 million) and included a 63-square-metre dining room and a 15,000 euro bathtub.
Germany's top Catholic cleric Robert Zollitsch, who was also visiting Rome, said the scandal over Limburg should not remain "without consequences".
The 53-year-old bishop is under pressure to resign after using church funds to build himself a diocese headquarters with a museum, conference halls, a chapel and private apartments.
The ostentatious project in the ancient town of Limburg was approved by his predecessor and was initially valued at 5.5 million euros but the final bill ballooned to 31 million euros.
The alleged extravagances of the cleric dubbed "bling bishop" by the press have sparked furore among Catholics in Germany, where Martin Luther's Reformation legacy has left many sensitive to excesses within the Church.
Tebartz-van Elst is also accused of giving false statements in court in a case centred on an expensive flight he took to India to visit poor communities.
Prosecutors allege the bishop twice gave false statements under oath in a Hamburg court battle against news weekly Der Spiegel when he denied having told the magazine's journalist that he flew only business class.
Anger that taxes paid to the Church by ordinary Germans are apparently being squandered has led to demonstrations outside his residence.
"For heaven’s sake!" the headline on the nation’s largest-selling tabloid, Bild, screamed on Friday. Over a graphic that showed the bishop’s living quarters and offices, it asked, "Why does the bishop need a 783,000-euro garden?"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, daughter of a Protestant pastor, said via her spokesman Steffen Seibert that "the government naturally has no instructions or advice to give. But I can express the hope that there will be an answer for believers, for people's confidence in their Church."
Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Treves, in West Germany, told Germany's public television chain ARD that the situation has "escalated to the extent that bishop Franz-Peter can no longer on principle work in Limburg."
The embattled Tebartz-van Elst has defended the costly project, saying the centuries-old hilltop cathedral complex adjacent to the modernist new structure is heritage protected, complicating the development.
Critics within and outside the church have contrasted the premium architectural project with the more humble style of Pope Francis and asked how much good the money could do if used as aid in poverty-stricken African countries.
Pope Francis has called for a "poor Church for the poor" and has condemned high-roller clerics.
The 76-year-old pontiff has refused to move into the lavish papal palace in the Vatican, staying instead in the Casa Santa Marta, a residence for visiting clergy and lay people.
He has repeatedly called for the Catholic Church and its faithful to rid themselves of earthly concerns like his namesake, St Francis of Assisi, warning that "worldliness is a murderer because it kills souls, kills people, kills the Church."
Archbishop Zollitsch has set up a commission to investigate the finances of Limburg diocese.
"This weighs on us," Zollitsch told reporters in Rome, adding that he could "not take a position" on the procedures in Germany against the bishop.
"It is the bishop of Limburg who should take a position," Zollitsch said, adding that he should respond "with a spirit of self-criticism".
By Ella Ide
4 hours ago
...
...Content preferences ....Done ..
... .View gallery
The bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, is seen in the chapel of the bishop's residence in Limburg, central Germany, on December 3, 2012 (AFP Photo/Boris Roessler).Vatican City (AFP) - A German big-spending Catholic bishop has flown to Rome to try and explain himself to humility advocate Pope Francis as he faces multiple calls to resign over his high-roller lifestyle.
Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst flew in with low-cost airline Ryanair -- following accusations he took a business-class ticket on a trip to India and squandered money on luxuries.
His private quarters in a brand-new bishop's palace are reported to have cost some 2.9 million euros ($3.9 million) and included a 63-square-metre dining room and a 15,000 euro bathtub.
Germany's top Catholic cleric Robert Zollitsch, who was also visiting Rome, said the scandal over Limburg should not remain "without consequences".
The 53-year-old bishop is under pressure to resign after using church funds to build himself a diocese headquarters with a museum, conference halls, a chapel and private apartments.
The ostentatious project in the ancient town of Limburg was approved by his predecessor and was initially valued at 5.5 million euros but the final bill ballooned to 31 million euros.
The alleged extravagances of the cleric dubbed "bling bishop" by the press have sparked furore among Catholics in Germany, where Martin Luther's Reformation legacy has left many sensitive to excesses within the Church.
Tebartz-van Elst is also accused of giving false statements in court in a case centred on an expensive flight he took to India to visit poor communities.
Prosecutors allege the bishop twice gave false statements under oath in a Hamburg court battle against news weekly Der Spiegel when he denied having told the magazine's journalist that he flew only business class.
Anger that taxes paid to the Church by ordinary Germans are apparently being squandered has led to demonstrations outside his residence.
"For heaven’s sake!" the headline on the nation’s largest-selling tabloid, Bild, screamed on Friday. Over a graphic that showed the bishop’s living quarters and offices, it asked, "Why does the bishop need a 783,000-euro garden?"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, daughter of a Protestant pastor, said via her spokesman Steffen Seibert that "the government naturally has no instructions or advice to give. But I can express the hope that there will be an answer for believers, for people's confidence in their Church."
Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Treves, in West Germany, told Germany's public television chain ARD that the situation has "escalated to the extent that bishop Franz-Peter can no longer on principle work in Limburg."
The embattled Tebartz-van Elst has defended the costly project, saying the centuries-old hilltop cathedral complex adjacent to the modernist new structure is heritage protected, complicating the development.
Critics within and outside the church have contrasted the premium architectural project with the more humble style of Pope Francis and asked how much good the money could do if used as aid in poverty-stricken African countries.
Pope Francis has called for a "poor Church for the poor" and has condemned high-roller clerics.
The 76-year-old pontiff has refused to move into the lavish papal palace in the Vatican, staying instead in the Casa Santa Marta, a residence for visiting clergy and lay people.
He has repeatedly called for the Catholic Church and its faithful to rid themselves of earthly concerns like his namesake, St Francis of Assisi, warning that "worldliness is a murderer because it kills souls, kills people, kills the Church."
Archbishop Zollitsch has set up a commission to investigate the finances of Limburg diocese.
"This weighs on us," Zollitsch told reporters in Rome, adding that he could "not take a position" on the procedures in Germany against the bishop.
"It is the bishop of Limburg who should take a position," Zollitsch said, adding that he should respond "with a spirit of self-criticism".
German Bishop Corruption and Profligacy: The Vatican and a New Church, But what of Africa?
Herein is the case involving the German Catholic bishop of the diocese of Limburg, Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, whose inordinate profligacy has casued an uproar in his diocese, and throughout Germany. The Vatican ordered an investigation by sending a delegation to that diocese regarding the matter. The Vatican took this case seriously for the scandal that it is. The Vatican acted and reacted in the right manner. The Vatican under the papacy of Pope Francis 1, has shown that corruption is an odious fragment in the life and functioning of the Catholic faith. Acting thus, he has expressed powerfully his commitment to transparency in the life of the Church. Yet, he needs to spread his tentacles further, especially to the churches of Africa. In many of these churches corruption by bishops and top-members of the hierarchy is rampant, and due to cowardness have always surfaced as rumours that have been proven over time in some cases. This was the case of the adulterous affairs carried out by Archbishop Pius Ncube in Zimbabwe, at the time when he was riding the high-moral-horse pouring venoms against the dictatorial antics of President Robert Mugabe, himself a Catholic.
In Nigeria, many Bishops are building palatial mansions and estates that blows the mind, and depressing and oppressing the bishop with all kinds of fund raising activities, launchings, and arbitrary use of church funds, that many are very poor stewards and managers. Often some of these activities, like their Nigerian politician peers, are outlets for siphoning money into their private accounts, merely using some of these wild goose and white elephant projects as convenient smokescreens to milk off the hardwork of their many innocent adherents, and on another level which they use to bond with some criminal and corrupt network of Nigerian politicians, occultists, businessmen and women, in a manner that endangers the qualitative autonomy and effective impact of the Christian gospel.
Among such criminals is John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, whose antics and tactics have been cleverly orchestrated using sleek strategies. This man harrass, molest, and rape Nigerian nuns and gullible women for his sexual gratification, and also receives bribes from the corrupt Nigerian government officials and politicians. He is also known to have caused enormous problems in many Nigerian dioceses regarding episcopal selection of candidates for the positions of bishops. Of recent, he has lead reticiently but factually the drive to build a mansion for the Ugandan archbishop who is the incumbent Papal Nuncio to Nigeria, using certain fronts but tasking Nigerian dioceses through their bishops to contribute to such malicious objectives. It is, unfortunate, that the Vatican turned around and appointed such a dirty hag of a Cardinal Archbishop to another troubled hot-spot, when nepotic and corrupt channels was used to impose a bishop on the good faithful of Ahiara diocese. The choice of Archbishop Cardinal Onaiyekan as the Apostolic Administration of Ahiara diocese is ill-advised and equally fraudulent as was the initial appointment and ordination of Bishop Peter Okpaleke to that episcopal see.
It is time that the Vatican initiate a wide-ranging investigation into all the affairs of the Nigerian Catholic Church--without exception. In almost all dioceses, the bishops are as corrupt as hell, and have no decorum when it comes to fragrant flamboyant living and profligacy as it pertains to the public ecclesiastical funds of the church, contributed by their adherents, and funds collected from abroad missionary funding agencies and foundations' grants.
+++++++++++++++++++
...Vatican hears about high-spending German bishop
Top German bishop says prosecutors' investigation of high-spending bishop demands action
By Daniela Petroff, Associated Press
Associated Press – 2 hours 9 minutes ago....Email 0Recommend0Tweet0Share0Print.....Related Content.
..
View Photo.Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, chairman of the German Episcopal Conference, speaks during a press conference at the Vatican, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Zollitsch is in Rome this week to brief Pope Francis on the diocese of Limburg, where Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst has caused an uproar with the 31-million-euro ($42 million) construction of a new bishop's residence complex and related renovations. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
....
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The head of Germany's bishops conference warned Monday that the Catholic Church must act quickly to deal with a bishop under fire for lavish spending now that German prosecutors are involved in the case, a tacit acknowledgment that the church's finances were on the line.
Archbishop Robert Zollitsch is in Rome this week to brief Pope Francis on the situation in the diocese of Limburg, where Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst has caused an uproar with the 31-million-euro ($42 million) construction of a new bishop's residence complex and related renovations.
In a country where a church tax provides the Catholic Church with billions in euros in revenue each year, there have long been calls from church reformers for greater transparency in church finances. Those calls have mounted in recent weeks as the Limburg scandal has grabbed headlines and Tebartz-van Elst has faced calls for his resignation.
Zollitsch told reporters Monday that the decision by Hamburg prosecutors to ask the court to fine Tebartz-van Elst for providing false testimony in a related case was deeply worrisome.
"It represents a decisive step for us," he told reporters at the Vatican.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Monday the situation in Limburg was "very difficult."
"Of course, it is not the German government's place to give any advice, but I may express the hope that it will be a solution for the faithful, for people's confidence in their church," Seibert said.
Last year, the church tax provided the German church with some 5.1 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in revenue.
Zollitsch said a canon lawyer was on a committee that has been set up to review the costs of the renovation, the financing and how decisions about the restoration evolved. The lawyer, he said, would determine if Tebarz-van Elst had violated canon law regarding the use of church money.
Tebartz-van Elst told the Bild newspaper that the bill was actually for 10 projects and there were additional costs because of regulations on buildings under historical protection.
He traveled to Rome on Sunday for talks at the Vatican about the scandal. It wasn't known if or when he would meet with the pope but no meeting was on Francis' official agenda Monday.
___
Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
..
In Nigeria, many Bishops are building palatial mansions and estates that blows the mind, and depressing and oppressing the bishop with all kinds of fund raising activities, launchings, and arbitrary use of church funds, that many are very poor stewards and managers. Often some of these activities, like their Nigerian politician peers, are outlets for siphoning money into their private accounts, merely using some of these wild goose and white elephant projects as convenient smokescreens to milk off the hardwork of their many innocent adherents, and on another level which they use to bond with some criminal and corrupt network of Nigerian politicians, occultists, businessmen and women, in a manner that endangers the qualitative autonomy and effective impact of the Christian gospel.
Among such criminals is John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, whose antics and tactics have been cleverly orchestrated using sleek strategies. This man harrass, molest, and rape Nigerian nuns and gullible women for his sexual gratification, and also receives bribes from the corrupt Nigerian government officials and politicians. He is also known to have caused enormous problems in many Nigerian dioceses regarding episcopal selection of candidates for the positions of bishops. Of recent, he has lead reticiently but factually the drive to build a mansion for the Ugandan archbishop who is the incumbent Papal Nuncio to Nigeria, using certain fronts but tasking Nigerian dioceses through their bishops to contribute to such malicious objectives. It is, unfortunate, that the Vatican turned around and appointed such a dirty hag of a Cardinal Archbishop to another troubled hot-spot, when nepotic and corrupt channels was used to impose a bishop on the good faithful of Ahiara diocese. The choice of Archbishop Cardinal Onaiyekan as the Apostolic Administration of Ahiara diocese is ill-advised and equally fraudulent as was the initial appointment and ordination of Bishop Peter Okpaleke to that episcopal see.
It is time that the Vatican initiate a wide-ranging investigation into all the affairs of the Nigerian Catholic Church--without exception. In almost all dioceses, the bishops are as corrupt as hell, and have no decorum when it comes to fragrant flamboyant living and profligacy as it pertains to the public ecclesiastical funds of the church, contributed by their adherents, and funds collected from abroad missionary funding agencies and foundations' grants.
+++++++++++++++++++
...Vatican hears about high-spending German bishop
Top German bishop says prosecutors' investigation of high-spending bishop demands action
By Daniela Petroff, Associated Press
Associated Press – 2 hours 9 minutes ago....Email 0Recommend0Tweet0Share0Print.....Related Content.
..
View Photo.Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, chairman of the German Episcopal Conference, speaks during a press conference at the Vatican, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013. Zollitsch is in Rome this week to brief Pope Francis on the diocese of Limburg, where Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst has caused an uproar with the 31-million-euro ($42 million) construction of a new bishop's residence complex and related renovations. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
....
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The head of Germany's bishops conference warned Monday that the Catholic Church must act quickly to deal with a bishop under fire for lavish spending now that German prosecutors are involved in the case, a tacit acknowledgment that the church's finances were on the line.
Archbishop Robert Zollitsch is in Rome this week to brief Pope Francis on the situation in the diocese of Limburg, where Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst has caused an uproar with the 31-million-euro ($42 million) construction of a new bishop's residence complex and related renovations.
In a country where a church tax provides the Catholic Church with billions in euros in revenue each year, there have long been calls from church reformers for greater transparency in church finances. Those calls have mounted in recent weeks as the Limburg scandal has grabbed headlines and Tebartz-van Elst has faced calls for his resignation.
Zollitsch told reporters Monday that the decision by Hamburg prosecutors to ask the court to fine Tebartz-van Elst for providing false testimony in a related case was deeply worrisome.
"It represents a decisive step for us," he told reporters at the Vatican.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Monday the situation in Limburg was "very difficult."
"Of course, it is not the German government's place to give any advice, but I may express the hope that it will be a solution for the faithful, for people's confidence in their church," Seibert said.
Last year, the church tax provided the German church with some 5.1 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in revenue.
Zollitsch said a canon lawyer was on a committee that has been set up to review the costs of the renovation, the financing and how decisions about the restoration evolved. The lawyer, he said, would determine if Tebarz-van Elst had violated canon law regarding the use of church money.
Tebartz-van Elst told the Bild newspaper that the bill was actually for 10 projects and there were additional costs because of regulations on buildings under historical protection.
He traveled to Rome on Sunday for talks at the Vatican about the scandal. It wasn't known if or when he would meet with the pope but no meeting was on Francis' official agenda Monday.
___
Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
..
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