More good news: Pope expels Bishop of Bling from diocese

[No Elephants]

Pope Francis temporarily expelled a German bishop from his diocese on Wednesday because of a scandal over a 31-million-euro project to build a new residence complex, but refused popular calls to remove him permanently.

The Vatican didn't say how long Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst would spend away from the diocese of Limburg and gave no information on where he would go or what he would do. It said his fate would ultimately be decided by the outcome of a church commission investigation into the expenditures.

It said Limburg's vicar general, the Rev. Wolfgang Roesch, who had been due to take up his duties on Jan. 1, would start immediately and would run the diocese during Tebartz-van Elst's absence.

At the center of the controversy is the 31-million-euro ($42 million) price tag for the construction of a new bishop's residence complex and related renovations. Tebartz-van Elst has said the bill was actually for 10 projects and there were additional costs because of regulations on buildings under historical protection.

The Limburg scandal has been front-page news for weeks in the country where Martin Luther launched the Reformation five centuries ago in response to what he said were excesses and abuses within the church. The perceived lack of financial transparency has also struck a chord since a church tax in Germany brings in billions of euros a year to the German church.

The head of the German bishops' conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, had been particularly blunt in his criticism of the expenditures and the credibility problem it was causing the church. He has said the church commission would investigate the costs of the renovation, the financing and how decisions about the restoration evolved. Canon lawyers are to determine if Tebartz-van Elst violated church law regarding the use of church money, he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pope-expels-german-luxury-bishop-diocese-20654259

In fairness to Bishop Bling, he got a better renovation deal than D.C. got for the capitol dome.

But, wait, I see that I keep falling for the headline, while the story is less good. Seems as though, bottom line, the Bishop is getting time off from work with pay. I always enjoy that!



The decision on the expulsion was taken after Francis met in the past week with Zollitsch and Tebartz-van Elst.

[Enthusiast]

1. I see it as good news.

[No Elephants]

2. It is good news, just not as good as the headline had led me to believe.