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Pope orders Bishop of Bling to stay away after spending £26 MILLION renovating his residence
23 Oct 2013 16:34He now has a free-standing bath that cost 15,000 euros, a conference table that cost 25,000 euros and a private chapel for 2.9 million euros
Row: Bishop of Bling and Pope Francis
The Pope has banished a senior Catholic figure dubbed the Bishop of Bling after spending £26MILLION renovating his residence.
Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, 53, was ordered out of his diocese by Pope Francis while the Vatican investigation takes place.
An official statement said the bishop "was currently not in a position to carry out his episcopal ministry" and he should stay away "for a period."
The decision is regarded as unusual because it appeared to leave him in limbo, falling somewhere between a suspension and a dismissal.
The issue has been a major embarrassment for the Pope, who has called for a more austere Church that sides with the poor and has urged bishops not to live "like princes".
Francis has also promised to clean up the murky finances of the Vatican’s own bank and has set up a commission to advise him on whether it should be restructured or even closed.
Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst's house
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The German media has dubbed Tebartz-van Elst "the luxury bishop" after an initial audit of his spending, ordered after a Vatican monitor visited Limburg last month, revealed the project cost at least 31 million euros - six times more than planned.
Tebartz-van Elst has also been accused by German magistrates of lying under oath about a first-class flight to visit poverty programmes in India.
The residence had been fitted with a free-standing bath that cost 15,000 euros, a conference table that cost 25,000 euros and a private chapel for 2.9 million euros.
This was apparently to buy time for the Vatican and German Church leaders to review the situation in the troubled diocese along with its broader ramifications.
The "luxury bishop" story has been front-page news in Germany for weeks, deeply embarrassing the Catholic church.
Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...#ixzz2iaHBzXH7
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23 Oct 2013 16:34He now has a free-standing bath that cost 15,000 euros, a conference table that cost 25,000 euros and a private chapel for 2.9 million euros
Row: Bishop of Bling and Pope Francis
REUTERS
The Pope has banished a senior Catholic figure dubbed the Bishop of Bling after spending £26MILLION renovating his residence.
Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, 53, was ordered out of his diocese by Pope Francis while the Vatican investigation takes place.
An official statement said the bishop "was currently not in a position to carry out his episcopal ministry" and he should stay away "for a period."
The decision is regarded as unusual because it appeared to leave him in limbo, falling somewhere between a suspension and a dismissal.
The issue has been a major embarrassment for the Pope, who has called for a more austere Church that sides with the poor and has urged bishops not to live "like princes".
Francis has also promised to clean up the murky finances of the Vatican’s own bank and has set up a commission to advise him on whether it should be restructured or even closed.
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Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst's house
View gallery
The German media has dubbed Tebartz-van Elst "the luxury bishop" after an initial audit of his spending, ordered after a Vatican monitor visited Limburg last month, revealed the project cost at least 31 million euros - six times more than planned.
Tebartz-van Elst has also been accused by German magistrates of lying under oath about a first-class flight to visit poverty programmes in India.
The residence had been fitted with a free-standing bath that cost 15,000 euros, a conference table that cost 25,000 euros and a private chapel for 2.9 million euros.
This was apparently to buy time for the Vatican and German Church leaders to review the situation in the troubled diocese along with its broader ramifications.
The "luxury bishop" story has been front-page news in Germany for weeks, deeply embarrassing the Catholic church.
Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...#ixzz2iaHBzXH7
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
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