Showing posts with label Jochen Riebel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jochen Riebel. Show all posts

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Newspaper: Limburger Bishop Not Criminally Guilty

"It's only affected by canon law,” the "Welt am Sonntag” Cites a Writer of Unpublished Church Audit Report. 

Berlin (kath.net / KAP)

The allegations against Bishop Franz-Peter van Elst Tebartz overlooking the construction of the new diocesan center Limburger are not criminally relevant according to a newspaper report. "It's only affected by canon law,"  the "Welt am Sonntag" cites a writer of the unpublished church audit report, who does not want to be named. In the report to the building cost increases, there were no established violations of state laws or regulations. Now, a canon will be tasked to check if the bishop did the right thing.

Tebartz van Elst was subject to criticism because of his office and because of the amount, ranging from at least 31 million euro construction costs. Since the end of October 2013 he has been indefinitely held   as a result of the Pope's decision to remain indefinitely outside his diocese. The German Bishops' Conference had used enlisted  five theologians, construction, financial and legal professionals commission led by the Auxiliary Bishop of Paderborn Manfred Grothe to review   the funding of the construction project, the cost of development and decision-making.

The report has been in the possession of   the Chairman of the Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch,  since Friday. He will now study it intensively and consult with Rome, Zollitsch said. He denies  that  a decision will be reach decision  Rome even before the start of the Spring Plenary Assembly of the Bishops' Conference on 10 March in the matter of Limburg bishop.

According to "Welt am Sonntag", the report has no reviews according to several authors, but consists only of facts and the representation of processes. There had been no disagreement among the examiners. "The factual arguments speak for Tebartz van Elst, but not for the chapter that is partially responsible," the paper said quoting its sources.

In the "Welt am Sonntag" Hesse Ex-Minister of State Jochen Riebel (CDU), a member of the finance committee of the Episcopal See in Limburg, has leveled new allegations against the bishop. He claimed to have been lied to by Tebartz van Elst as to the question of how many antique and artistic figures had been purchased for the diocesan center. "Tebartz van Elst has promised me in a confidential meeting high and swore that all the figures that are placed there, came from the pool. That was a lie," the paper quoted Riebel. "Only two of the figures are from the collection, all others were purchased."

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