Vatican removes German 'bishop of bling' over luxury home

[Katashi_itto]

(Reuters) - The Vatican removed a German bishop on Wednesday because he spent 31 million euros ($43 million) of Church funds on an extravagant residence when Pope Francis was preaching austerity.

It said the atmosphere in the diocese of Limburg had become such that Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst could no longer carry out a "fruitful exercise" of his ministry there.

Tebartz-van Elst, dubbed the "bishop of bling", had been ordered to stay out of his diocese temporarily last October during a local Church investigation and audit of cost over-runs. He offered his resignation at the time.

A statement said the Vatican department that oversees bishops had now studied the investigation's findings and accepted his resignation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/26/us-vatican-germany-idUSBREA2P0SJ20140326

[Kelvin Mace]

1. Took them long enough

Just sayin'...