Forum Post: Do you know Francis ?

If you do, please ask him to come here and school the American bishops of Wall Street

Germany's 'luxury bishop' Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, has flown to the Vatican in Rome to discuss his lavish spending.

Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst - dubbed the "Luxury Bishop" - is facing calls for his resignation after spending $42,000,000 on his residence.
He is also accused of lying about the over-spend on the property in Limburg.

In Rome, he will meet the head of the Catholic Church in Germany, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch. It is not clear if Pope Francis will intervene.

Since taking office in March, Pope Francis has urged the Church to promote a lifestyle of frugality and simplicity.

The allegations have stoked controversy among Catholics in Germany, where Martin Luther launched the Reformation in Europe five centuries ago in response to what he said were excesses and abuses within the Church.

Many Germans are shocked by the apparent financial waste - prompting some to stage demonstrations outside the bishop's residence in Limburg, a town in Hesse near Frankfurt-on-Main.
German Catholics also pay a compulsory tax to the Church as part of their income tax.

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Is there an analogy here to Wall Street bishops’ low cap gains tax rates & loop holes – subsided by our income tax rates? Hay- david & charlie & mitt – what do you think ?

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Bishop Tebartz-van Elst is also accused of twice lying under oath about a flight he took to India on a trip to visit poor children. The 53-year-old had filed a civil court claim against Der Spiegel magazine, for reporting that he had flown first-class on the trip. After being forced to print a retraction, the magazine filed a legal complaint of its own. As evidence, it published mobile phone video of its interview with Bishop Tebartz-van Elst, in which he clearly stated to the interviewer that he had flown business class.

Asked by the German daily Bild - about the high cost of his new residence, the bishop said: "I understand that the high cost of 31,000,000 euros sounds frightening. Those who know me know that I don't have a pompous lifestyle."