LUXURY BISHOP

German Bishop
Franz Peter Tebartz-van Elst

LUXURY BISHOP

German Bishop Franz Peter Tebartz-van Elst

Pope Francis today suspended the free spending German Bishop Franz Peter Tebartz-van Elst -- known derisively as Bishop Deluxe or the Bishop of Bling -- and ordered him to vacate the Diocese of Limburg, at least temporarily. 

The pope, who has declined to live in the Vatican's opulent papal residence, has been urging prelates to adopt a more humble lifestyle and today's actions were the strongest yet to reenforce that message. 

The pope's decision was released in a short statement from the Vatican press office stating that the actions of the bishop had created a situation "where in the present moment he cannot exercise his Episcopal ministry." 

"Pending the results of this examination and the related investigations on the responsibilities in this regard, the Holy See considers it appropriate to authorizeBishop Franz -Peter Tebartz-van Elst a period of stay outside the Diocese," the statement said. 

The pope's decision to expel the "Bishop of Bling" – as he has been dubbed in the international media – takes effect immediately. 

A final decision on the future of the big spending priest will be determined only after the German Bishop Conference has finished a detailed report on the cost of the construction remodelling of the bishop's official residence. The pope was reportedly told last week that the final costs may reach $55 million, $13 million over the already substantial price tag. 

After a week of waiting, Bishop Tebartz-van Elst met with Pope Francis in a 20 minute closed door meeting last Monday. No official statement was released, but German media reports that after the discussion the bishop was upbeat, calling it "an encouraging conversation." 

He has not been seen in public since the meeting. The bishop continues to insist that the cost were in part because of the need for historical preservation of the 10 buildings on the property. 

Bishop Tebartz-van Elst also is under investigation for false claims in the use of church money for travel to India. A prosecutor's office is deciding whether to pursue perjury charges. 

The Limburg diocese has about 650,000 members. Some have taken to protest daily in front to the area's main cathedral. Last summer, before the news of the spending scandal, 4,000 people in diocese had signed an open letter to complain about the bishop's leadership. 

In Germany, the family of the ostracized bishop have reportedly been intimidated, according to media outlets. 

"We get daily death threats by phone or in letters," the brother of the priest, Johannes, told the Bunte newspaper. His 87-year-old mother told the same paper that family is standing behind her son despite of the criticism. 

It could take up to three months to finalize the Bishop Conference report. In the meantime the Diocese will be run by a substitute vicar general. One of the most senior members of the German church had already suggested that the bishop should use this time to examine his conscience over the crisis he has caused. 

"I am convinced that the bishop of Limburg... will confront this situation in a spirit of self-criticism," Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German bishops' conference last week.

V.K. JOY, General Secretary, Kerala Catholic Federation

V.K. JOY, General Secretary, Kerala Catholic Federation
Phone No. 9447037725

V.K. JOY, General Secretary, Kerala Catholic Federation

Cochin Jews

Magnes releases Mandelbaum film clip on Cochin Jews    

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

By Bala Menon
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, one of the world's best-known repository of Judaica, has just released a video on 'Scenes of Jewish Life in Kerala', giving a glimpse of outdoor life in Jew Town, Mattancherry in the early 20th century. 
The 16 mm, silent, black and white film, archived at the Bancroft Library of the University of California in Berkeley, was made by anthropologist David Mandelbaum  in 1937 when he visited the then Kingdom of Cochin to document the life and rituals of the Jews of the Cochin.  (Note: not all the people shown in the film are Jews; the Simchat Torah celebration sequence was filmed at the Paradesi synagogue in Mattancherry.) 
It also looks like Mandelbaum has filmed the entire Synagogue Lane on which there were three synagogues at the time. At the north end was the Paradesi, at the south end was the Kadavumbhagam and in the middle there was the Thekhumbagam. Most of the Jews in the north end were small merchants and poultry sellers as opposed to the wealthier Jews of the Paradesi congregation. Mandelbaum has not filmed the Jews of Mala, Paravur and Chennamangalam, many of whom were wealthy farmers and owned coconut, rice and pepper plantations.)



David Goodman Mandelbaum, who was born in  Chicago in 1911, was among the earliest of western scholars to undertake field trips to India for ethnographic studies. Before his focus on India, he studied the San Carlos Apaches of Arizona and later the Plans Cree First Nations in Saskatchewan, Canada.  He also spent about two years (1937-1938) studying the Kota and Toda tribes in the Nilgiri Hills in the then Madras Presidency.Most of the research material and photographs he collected in Cochin were published in "The Jewish Way of Life in Cochin" (Jewish Social Studies Vol 1, No. 4 - Oct. 1939) and in other articles. In the main article, Mandelbaum wrote of "life in Cochin is conducted strictly according to the precepts of the Shulhan arukh, the orthodox codex" and again "Judaism flourishes in Cochin because the syna- gogue complex embraces every phase of the culture and serves all the needs of social life."2
During the Second World War II he served in the army as an officer in Southeast Asia. In 1946, he joined the Berkeley Department of Anthropology, working there until retiring in 1978. He, however, continued as Professor Emeritus, until his death on April 19, 1987, after a long battle with cancer.  He was instrumental in the creation of the Kroeber Hall and the Lowie Museum of Anthropology and also played a key role in establishing the University's Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies.
Mandelbaum's interests covered a wide spectrum of research areas, 'but India remained his greatest love and it is for his contributions to Indian studies that he is particularly well known."4
The Magnes collection was known earlier as the Judah L. Magnes Museum. Founded in 1962 by Seymour Fromer (who died in 2009 at the age of 87) and his wife Rebecca Camhi, the Magnes has  secured and restored several articles from Jewish Cochin. Among the treasures is the Torah Ark from the  demolished Thekkumbhagam Synagogue  (which was located near the Paradesi Synagogue) at Mattancherry. Dating to the early 17th century, the ark has elaborate carvings in red, green and gold colours. A draped central cartouche on top of four wooden pillars is inscribed with the words 'Crown of the Torah' in Hebrew.
References: 
1. www.magnes.org
2. The Jewish Way of Life in Cochin, David Mandelbaum, Jewish Social Studies/JSTOR
3. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf400003gz/
4. http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb6z09p0jh&chunk.id=div00029&brand=calisphere&doc.view=entire_text
Courtesy: Posted by Bala Menon at 2:05 AM 

Thrissur Arch Diocese March & Dharna Post Phoned

Thrissur Arch Diocese March & Dharna 
Post Phoned due to Harthal 
Thrissur Arch Diocese March & Dharna 
on 04/09/2013 Wednesday at 10 am 
from East Fort 
will be Conducted by Kerala Catholic Federation 
& Human Rights Assn.

The programme 
post phoned due to Harthal

New date will be informed

JANAYUGAM 30/08/2013

Katholikka Sabha ?

'Katholikka Sabha' 
Masika - News Papper published by Thrissur Arch Diocese

The Editorial
"Mathrubhumi" 14/08/2013

Madhyamam 12/08/13

Madhyamam 11/8/2013

Mathrubhumi 12/08/2013

Arch Diocese Thrissur ?

Report 'City Jurnal" 14/08/2013

Protest Dharna Near Thrissur Corporation Conducted by JCC & KCF on 5th Auguust 2013 

Madhyamam 24/07/2013

Very Rev. Msr. Paul Peramangalath, Chairman of Appellate Tribunal for Corporate Educational Agency and Vicar General II of Thrissur Catholic Arch Diocese was today caught by the Thrissur Police while he was driving his luxurious car in a drunken condition. He hit five vehicles in the inebriated condition. It is worthwhile to note here that Thrissur Arch Diocese is spearheading a vehement campaign against intoxicating liquors. They are the advocates of total prohibition. Being the Vicar General he has become a bad role model to the priests and the faithful. Being the Appellate Tribunal for Corporate Educational Agency he has set a bad example to the students and the teachers. The Thrissur Arch Diocese should immediately remove him from all the ecclesiastical and temporal positions held by him. The Diocese should not try to bribe the Officers using the sacred money deposited by the faithful in the divine coffers. It should also not try to influence the media to hush up the news. Only Surya Channel has reported the matter. Many channels have not given this news for reasons best known to them. The Catholic youth Associations, if they are not sycophants, should sharply react. As Paul Peramangalath has behaved in a manner unbecoming of a priest he should immediately be defrocked. Community should share and respond.

Thrichur Arch Diocese?

Thrichur Arch Diocese?

Madyamam 03/07/2013

Janmabhumi 08/07/2013

Madhyamam 04/07/2013