German Catholic bishops are scrapping centuries of secrecy and reporting the value of their private endowments as a scandal caused by a free-spending prelate puts pressure on them for more financial transparency.

“Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst – dubbed “the luxury bishop” – has shocked the Church by admitting six-fold cost overruns on construction of his luxurious new residence, which is now priced at 31 million euros, most of which will be paid from his ample reserves.” By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor, Reuters, in Orlando Sentinel

Read the rest of Heneghan’s story by clicking here.

Additional stories about Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst:

• German Bishops’ Conference Investigating Multimillon Building Project
• Vatican Hears about High-Spending German Bishop
• German Outrage Swells Over a Bishop’s Spending
• German ‘Luxury Bishop’ Flies to Rome for Papal Decision on Job