Monsignor Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst was removed from his post after church inquiry into the cost of his new complex

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Pope Francis has permanently removed a German bishop who has been called the 'bishop of bling' from his diocese amid criticism of his €31m (£26m) residential complex.

Francis had temporarily expelled Monsignor Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst from Limburg in October pending a church inquiry.

At the centre of the controversy was the huge price tag for the construction of a new bishop's residence complex and related renovations.

Tebartz-van Elst defended the expenditures, saying the bill was actually for 10 projects, and there were additional costs because the buildings were under historical protection.

But in the country where Martin Luther launched the Reformation five centuries ago, the outcry was enormous. The perceived lack of financial transparency also struck a chord, since a church tax in Germany brings in billions of euros a year to the German church.

The Vatican said that the inquiry into the renovation had found that Tebartz-van Elst could no longer exercise his ministry, and that Francis had accepted his resignation, which was originally offered on 20 October.

A replacement, Monsignor Manfred Grothe, currently an auxiliary bishop in Paderborn, would take over, the Vatican said, citing a statement from the diocese.

It said Tebartz-van Elst would get a new job "at the opportune time".

It added that the pope hoped the faithful of Limburg would accept the decision with "docility and willingness to rediscover a climate of charity and reconciliation."

While the former head of the German bishops' conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, was particularly blunt in his criticism of the bishop, Tebartz-van Elst had his defenders in Rome. This could explain the Vatican's decision to give him a second chance with a new job.

Francis has called on his priests and bishops to be models of sobriety in a church that "is poor, and is for the poor".