The Vatican on Wednesday suspended indefinitely a German Catholic cleric dubbed the "bling bishop" for his luxury lifestyle, despite multiple calls in Germany for the prelate to be dismissed.
"The Holy See deems it appropriate to authorise a period of leave from the diocese for Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst," the Vatican said in a statement. "The Holy Father has been continuously and objectively informed of the situation," it said.
"A situation has been created in which the bishop can no longer exercise his episcopal duties." It did not specify how long the bishop would have to stay away but added that this would depend on an analysis of the finances of his limburg diocese and the responsibilities for its high costs. The bishop flew to Rome last week with low-cost airline Ryanair to explain himself to Francis — following accusations he took a business-class ticket on a trip to India and squandered money.