Family Affairs: Catholic Church Throws $130,000 Party for Pope’s Brother as Schuller Dumps His Son

It appears that a vow of poverty does not stand in the way of a good Birthday bash. A Catholic diocese in southern Germany plans to spend 100,000 euros (130,000 dollars) on a birthday bash at the Vatican for the Pope Benedict XVI’s elder brother, Georg Ratzinger. In the meantime, Crystal Cathedral founder televangelist Robert Schuller has forced his own son out of control of his church.

Ratzinger is a priest like the Pope and will turn 85 on January 15. He will have Mozart’s Mass in C-Minor performed for him in the Sistine Chapel and the diocese of Regensburg in Bavaria is flying in a 90-person choir plus 37 musicians from an orchestra in Linz, Austria for the performance.

In the meantime, Crystal Cathedral founder Reverend Robert H. Schuller has removed his son as preacher on the church’s weekly “Hour of Power” syndicated TV broadcast.
He stated that his son had lost his way and no longer had the same vision: “For this lack of shared vision and the jeopardy in which this is placing this entire ministry, it has become necessary for Robert and me to part ways.”

Despite hundreds of years, it appears that religion still often comes down to a family affair.

For the full story on the birthday bash, click here.