Limburg’s harshly criticized bishop franz-peter tebartz-van elst has broken his silence and defended the cost explosion for the new construction of his residence in person. He understands that people are frightened by the high sum of 31 million euros, the catholic bishop said.
"But behind it there are ten individual building projects. It is necessary to know many details, such as the requirements of the preservation of historical monuments." However, the hessian monument protection authority denies having imposed any requirements. At present, the cost of building the bishop’s residence is estimated at 31 million euros.
The 53-year-old bishop is also controversial because of his authoritarian style of leadership. He is also being investigated by the hamburger public prosecutor’s office. This is about the statements about an expensive flight to india – the accusation of a false affirmation in lieu of an oath is in the offing. A discontinuation, an order of summary punishment or even an indictment are all possible options. A decision is to be communicated in short.
Tebartz-van elst rejected the accusation of wasteful handling of church funds in his interview. "Those who know me know that I don’t need a pompous lifestyle", said the 53-year-old.
In the interview, the bishop did not specifically address calls for his resignation, but he did accept responsibility for the cost increases. "As bishop, I bear the responsibility", tebartz-van elst said. He does not want to blame it on others. The clergyman demanded to wait for the result of the review by a commission of the bishops’ conference "before breaking the baton over me". He announced that he would write a letter to the faithful of the diocese at the weekend "and clarify some things".
It was the first time that the bishop had spoken publicly after it became known at the beginning of the week that the expenses for the new residence had increased many times over, to 31 million euros at present. The bishop was severely reproached by the board of directors, among others. This is to monitor the finances of the bishop’s chair. Calls for resignation have come from the priests’ council of his diocese, which sees trust destroyed, and from the reform movement "we are church," among others.
Now the public prosecutor’s office has applied for a warrant against franz-peter tebartz-van elst for two counts of false affidavit. This was announced by the hamburg investigation office on thursday. It is about statements of the clergyman about a flight to india.