Pope Francis Suspends German Bishop For Spending N6.8 billion Naira On His Private Home! [Video + Photos]

Pope Francis, who has made humility and modesty his hallmarks, sent a swift and clear message to Roman Catholics around the world on Wednesday, by suspending a German bishop accused of spending millions on lavish renovations to his residence and forcing the chief administrator of the bishop’s diocese into early retirement.

See details and photos of the exorbitant bishop's residence after the cut:

The still-under-construction residence of the Catholic bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, in Limburg, Germany.(Photo: Fredrik von Erichsen, EPA)

The bishop, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, 53, of Limburg, was said to have let the cost of renovating his residence and other church buildings balloon to more than $41 million. The projects drew ridicule in the German news media for luxuries like a $20,000 bathtub, a $1.1 million landscaped garden and plans for an 800-square-foot fitness room — as well as a cross to be suspended from the ceiling of a personal chapel, which necessitated the reopening of a renovated roof.

The pope acted just two days after receiving Bishop Tebartz-van Elst in Rome, where he was summoned to explain himself. The Vatican issued a statement saying that Francis had been “comprehensively and objectively” informed about the events in the diocese and that Bishop Tebartz-van Elst “currently cannot exercise his office.”

The statement said the Holy See thought it “advisable” for the bishop to spend an unspecified time away from Limburg. His duties will be assumed by a deacon, Wolfgang Rösch, who was scheduled to become the diocese’s chief administrator at the end of the year. The current chief, Franz Kaspar, 75, a confidant of the bishop, will retire immediately, two and a half months early.

The pope’s decision lifted spirits among Germany’s Catholics and reinforced indications that he will enforce his values throughout the church hierarchy. Francis has chosen to live in a spartan guesthouse in the Vatican, rather than in the opulent apartments his predecessors used, and he has said that bishops should not live “like princes.”