Pope Francis sacks Limburg's 'bishop of bling' after inquiry into €31m refurbishment of residence

By Abigail Frymann
Tablet (UK)
March 26, 2014

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/601/0/pope-francis-sacks-limburg-s-bishop-of-bling-after-inquiry-into-31m-refurbishment-of-residence-

Pope Francis has permanently removed the high-spending Bishop of Limburg following an investigation by the German bishops’ conference.

Rome said on Wednesday that the inquiry found that Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst could no longer exercise his ministry and Francis had accepted his resignation, which he had offered in October.

Bishop Tebartz-van Elst was dubbed the “bishop of bling” in the media after details of the €31m refurbishment of his residence were reported, sparking outrage from the faithful.

Francis ordered him to take time out from his diocese in October pending the inquiry into the refurbishment. In November he admitted to two counts of perjury. He had hoped to return to Limburg.

Manfred Grothe, an auxiliary bishop in Paderborn, will act as an apostolic administrator, the Vatican said, citing a statement from the diocese.

The statement added that Tebartz-van Elst would get a new job, and that the Pope hoped that the faithful of Limburg would accept the decision with " willingness to rediscover a climate of charity and reconciliation".