Deutsch Welle, 23 October 2013
The pope
has suspended the bishop of Limburg for the immediate future. The German cleric
was temporarily relieved of his post in the wake of a scandal involving a
31-million-euro ($42 million) renovation project.
Pope Francis announced he would remove Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst from his position for the time being, according to a Vatican statement on Wednesday. The decision came two days after the pontiff held a private audience with Tebartz-van Elst.
Pope Francis announced he would remove Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst from his position for the time being, according to a Vatican statement on Wednesday. The decision came two days after the pontiff held a private audience with Tebartz-van Elst.
The pontiff
had chosen to suspend Tebartz-van Elst because he "could not [carry out
his duties] at the current time," given the controversy surrounding his
costly renovation project, the Vatican statement said.
Vicar
general Wolfgang Rösch from the neighboring city of Wiesbaden was named as the
temporary caretaker for the bishop of Limburg's diocese. Rösch had already been
selected to become Limburg's vicar general beginning January 2014.
It was not
immediately clear how long German bishop would be suspended.
German
daily newspaper "Bild" reported on Wednesday that the suspension was
expected to last two to three months.
There was
no immediate comment from the bishop.
The
'luxury' bishop
Tebartz-van
Elst, 53, became an object of public scrutiny this month when his diocese
announced the costs for the renovation of his new residence and offices would
be 31 million euros, far beyond the original estimate of 5.5 million euros.
The scandal
over the possible misuse of Church funds has drawn criticism in Germany, where
parish funds comes not only from donations, but also from a special
"church tax" paid by registered parishioners to their respective
denominations.
The
surprising cost of the renovation projects prompted calls for his resignation
by German Catholics.
A separate
scandal had also drawn attention to the bishop around the same time involving a
trip to India where he visited impoverished communities. He had denied claims
by the German news magazine Der Spiegel that he had flown first-class. The
Hamburg prosecutor subsequently issued an indictment against him for allegedly
submitting false affidavits.
Tebart-an
Elst has defended the costs, citing the breadth of the project as the main
reason for the exorbitant bill.
kms/mz (KNA, dpa)
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