Bishop of Limburg hopes to return to his diocese

The Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who has been advised by the Pope to take time out from his diocese while a special commission audits his expenses (see The Tablet, 19 and 26 October), has let it be known that he hopes to return to Limburg.

The rector of the German College of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome, Prelate Franz Xaver Brandmayr, told the Sunday edition of the Austrian daily Österreich on 3 November that Bishop Tebartz, who had sought refuge at the college in order to “put some daylight between himself and the inferno in Limburg”, had expressly asked him to make it clear that he still hoped to return to his diocese as bishop. Bishop Tebartz was “not bitter”, Dr Brandmayr said. “He is as unassuming and likeable as ever but disappointed about those others who are suddenly shirking their responsibilities.”

Pope Francis was fully informed about the situation in Limburg and had not reproached Bishop Tebartz when he met him in a private audience, Dr Brandmayr emphasised. “There was only understanding and a joint effort to clear things up and find a solution.”

Bishop Tebartz is at the Benedictine Abbey of Metten in Bavaria where he is most welcome, the abbot, Wolfgang Hagl OSB, told KNA news agency. He was taking part in the life of the community just as he had often done in the past, Abbot Hagl said, adding that there would be no more press statements.

Meanwhile the city dean of Frankfurt and member of the Limburg cathedral chapter, Fr Johannes zu Eltz, one of Tebartz’s harshest critics, has criticised Pope Francis for leaving the bishop’s future in abeyance. “I find this indecisiveness strange,” Fr Eltz said in a letter to his co-workers. The Pope’s “ambivalence”  meant that the struggle over the future course of the German Church was not yet over. Fr Eltz said he would do everything within his power to make those responsible in Rome realise that Tebartz could not return.

As the number of Catholics leaving the Church doubles and even trebles in some dioceses compared with last year, the chairman of the German Protestant Churches, Nikolaus Schneider, has confirmed that the Protestant Churches are also affected. “Catholic and Protestant Christians in our country are a joint liability community,” he said.