GERMANY
The Local
Reports that the former Bishop of Limburg has received a new job at the Vatican, despite being ousted from his post for a €31-million spending spree, sparked bafflement on Tuesday.
Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who became known internationally as the ‘Bishop of bling,’ was forced to resign last March amid a public outcry over the lavish renovation of his headquarters, including €213,000 spent on a fish tank.
After several months living in an upscale 180-square-metre apartment in Regensburg, he is believed to have already relocated to Rome to take up a specially created post preparing catechetical materials for bishops’ conferences.
“The post was created for Tebartz-van Elst and has the hallmarks of a ‘make-work’ job because the Vatican couldn’t figure out what else to do with the prelate,” the RNS Religion News Service wrote from Vatican City on Tuesday.
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