Pope suspends bishop who splashed lavish cash Pope Francis came to office stressing frugality and trust. His strong leadership backs that up. Pope Francis, who has made humility and modesty his hallmarks, has sent a swift and clear message to Catholics around the world. He has suspended a German bishop accused of spending millions on lavish renovations to his residence and forced the chief administrator of the bishop's diocese into early retirement. The bishop, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, of Limburg, was reported to have allowed costs of renovating his residence and other church buildings to run to more than $US41 million ($42.5 million). The project drew ridicule in the German news media for luxuries such as a $US20,000 bathtub, a $US1.1 million landscaped garden and plans for a 74-square-metre fitness room and a cross to be suspended from the ceiling of a personal chapel that necessitated the reopening of a renovated roof. The Pope acted just two days after receiving the bishop in Rome, where he was summoned to explain himself. The Vatican issued a statement saying that the Pope had been "comprehensively and objectively" informed about what was going on ... and that Bishop Tebartz-van Elst "currently cannot exercise his office." It said the Holy See considered it "advisable" for the bishop to spend an unspecified time away from Limburg. His duties would be assumed by a deacon, Wolfgang Rosch, who was already scheduled to become the diocese's chief administrator at the end of the year. The present chief, Franz Kaspar, 75, a confidant of the bishop, would retire immediately, 2½ months early, the Vatican said. The Pope's decision to suspend Bishop Tebartz-van Elst lifted spirits among Germany's Catholics and reinforced indications that he will enforce his values throughout the church hierarchy. The Pope has chosen to live in a spartan guesthouse in the Vatican, rather than the opulent apartments his predecessors used, and has said bishops should not live "like princes." "His decision signals that the Pope deems pastoral life and moral examples important, not an accessory," said Alberto Melloni, a Vatican historian. The Limburg scandal first reached the Vatican in August, and a cardinal, Giovanni Lajolo, was dispatched to look into it. As a result, the German Bishops Conference appointed a commission to investigate the spending affair.