Vatican suspends 'bishop of bling'

The Vatican has suspended a senior German Church leader dubbed the "bishop of bling" by the media over his alleged lavish spending. The Bishop of

Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, is accused of spending over 31m euros (£26m; $42m) on renovating his official residence. The Vatican said it deemed "appropriate... a period of leave from the diocese" for the bishop. The suspension comes two days after he met the Pope to discuss the matter. "A situation has been created in which the bishop can no longer exercise his episcopal duties", a Vatican statement said. The bishop - and his spending habits - had become infamous in Germany, where many people pay tax to the Catholic Church. Calls were made for the bishop to resign after he was accused of lying under oath about his spending.
He was criticised for a first-class flight to India to visit the poor.

But his official residence is at the heart of the criticism, after originally being costed at 5.5m euros.