Pope Suspends Germany's £26m 'Bling Bishop'

Pope Francis has suspended a German Catholic bishop dubbed the "bling bishop", who spent £26m (€31m) on his new residence.

The Vatican said: "The Holy See deems it appropriate to authorise a period of leave from the diocese for Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst."

The suspended Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst

The Most Rev Tebartz-van Elst, Bishop of Limburg, faced calls for his resignation after it was revealed that the cost of his residence was more than six times the planned amount.

His private quarters in a new diocesan building are reported to have cost some £2.47m (€2.9m) and included a 63sq m dining room and a £12,800 (€15,000) bathtub - paid for using the revenue from a religious tax in Germany.

He was investigated by a Vatican envoy after protests in his diocese against lavish spending.

The decision to suspend him was taken after Bishop Tebartz-van Elst met Pope Francis in Rome on Monday.

The Vatican did not say if the bishop would permanently leave the diocese  but it said newly-named vicar general, Monsignor Wolfgang Roesch, would administer the diocese during his "period of time away".

Protesters pray and sing in front of the new residence of the bishop

In a statement, the Vatican said the situation in the diocese had become such that Bishop Tebartz-van Elst "could no longer exercise his episcopal ministry".

The 53-year-old bishop has defended the renovation, saying it involved 10 different projects and that there were additional costs because of regulations on buildings under historical protection.

But his alleged extravagance is at odds with Pope Francis's shift of the Church's focus towards simplicity and poverty.

The soaring cost of the stately residence next to Limburg's hilltop cathedral has been strongly criticised by churchgoers and officials after it was made public by the diocese.

Anger that taxes paid to the Church by ordinary Germans are apparently being squandered has led to demonstrations outside the bishop's residence.

The bishop's new home is part of a complex of buildings

Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Treves, in West Germany, last week told Germany's public television chain ARD that the situation has "escalated to the extent that bishop Franz-Peter can no longer on principle work in Limburg".

When the cost emerged local Catholic Raimund Champert said: "Such prestige projects simply don't fit with Catholicism.

"The Church, like the Pope, has a responsibility to be humble and lead by example. We are not in the Middle Ages any more."

His wife, Roswitha Champert, added: "It's actually shameless what's going on. I may be a Catholic but I don't agree with it."

Christoph Hefter, a lay member of the diocesan council, said: "The cost is shocking, it is beyond belief."

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