Nabi Sayeth: A vivid dichotomy - Lifestyle of the Bishop of Bling vs.Imprisoned Chinese Priest

Nabi Asketh: How more vivid a dichotomy could there be when we compare two different lifestyles in light of the Gospel….

The first lifestyle: That of the bishop of bling….[Editor's Note: German Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who resigned in the midst of scandal in 2014 blaming an underling for his lavish spending on his personal lifestyle.]

Nice Car!

Superman (er...Bill Donohue) Coming to Cardinal Wuerl's Rescue!

Bill Donohue has come out swinging at those criticizing Cardinal Wuerl and his $43 Million penthouse on Embassy Row. (See here.) In his article Donohue attacks George Neumayr who called Wuerl our own "bishop of bling" and says this about Christine Niles of ChurchMilitantTV:

Christine Niles...says "today’s archbishop of Washington owns a penthouse in a complex valued at $43 million." That is a lie. He owns not a centimeter of his third-floor "penthouse," an apartment that sits atop Our Lady Queen of the Americas parish. Like bishops all over the world, he resides in a spot that was specifically designed for the local Ordinary. There is nothing scandalous about this Church patrimony.

Double Standard: Orthodox Bishop of Bling Gets the Ax, Liberal Super Blinger is A-Okay

"Bishop of Bling"

Remember when German bishop, Franz Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the "Bishop of Bling" got thrown out of his diocese by Pope Francis for his big spending ways? (See here.) Actually, the project was begun by the previous bishop, but oh well. Many of us agree that ostentatious over-spending is inappropriate for clerics. The final price tag for the project which involved maintaining and redecorating ten buildings of a diocesan center including the bishop's house was reported at 55 million euros. (A euro is worth about $1.12 according to currency converter.) The bishop was crucified in the secular media and wasn't treated too sympathetically by the Catholic media either. Latest news on the bishop? He's been assigned a newly-created catechetical position at the Vatican. 

Bishop of Super Bling

Oh...one other thing. The "Bishop of Bling" is orthodox. He suspended a priest who "married" two homosexuals and was holding the ground on controversial issues relating to marriage and sexuality which made him unpopular both in the secular world and in his own episcopate which is filled with progressives who believe in the evolution of dogma.

Now let's turn to another blinger of the German episcopate who's managed to avoid the negative spotlight. ( See here.) Cardinal Reinhard Marx, one of the liberal movers and shakers at the recent Extraordinary Synod on the Family, a man who implies that the German Church will move ahead on its "pastoral" plan to allow the divorced and civilly remarried to receive Communion, spent over 130 million euros on a diocesan center. Let's see, that's more than twice as much as the "bishop of bling." But there has not been one one word in the secular press about his scandalous spending and there's no evidence he is getting called on the carpet by Rome.

So what gives?

What makes one bishop a pariah and another gets a total pass? I could speculate, but I think the facts speak for themselves. You can find the answer in Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."