Bishops have near-absolute powers over the finances of their dioceses. To be disciplined about profligate spending is rare, and it's rarer still when the orders come directly from the pope rather than from other Vatican bodies, analysts said. The pope has also launched an ambitious attempt to clean up corruption at the secretive Vatican bank, removing officials who stood in the way of reforms and moving swiftly against those accused of misdeeds. Francis has said he wants a poor church for the poor, and he has urged church officials to live humbly. Leaked photographs of fancy upgrades to Tebartz-van Elst's residence clashed with the personal example set by Francis, who lives in a far less swanky guest apartment on the grounds of the Vatican. The bishop was called to Rome this month for an audience with the pope. German media reported that he flew Ryanair, a budget airline known for its uncomfortable seats. Wednesday's decision put Tebartz-van Elst, 53, on leave pending an audit of the construction project and left open the possibility that he could return to his post. He was installed as a bishop in 2007 by Francis's predecessor, the German Pope Benedict XVI. Limburg is a sleepy, medieval town of 33,000, but the diocese of 682,000 people also includes Frankfurt, Germany's financial capital. "In the diocese, a situation has developed" in which Tebartz-van Elst "cannot, at the present moment, continue to exercise his episcopal ministry," the Vatican said in a statement Wednesday, offering the bishop "a period of stay outside the diocese" without elaborating further. Another local church official will temporarily assume Tebartz-van Elst's duties in his absence. Earlier this month, prosecutors in Hamburg also opened an investigation into whether the bishop had lied in an affidavit after the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported in 2012 that he had flown first-class on a trip to India for a church mission to the poor. The threat of legal action may also have influenced the Vatican's decision Wednesday, analysts said. Top German Catholic officials, usually cautious in their public statements, greeted the decision with apparent relief, saying that the bishop had damaged the church's image in their country. "This was a good decision," said Stefan Vesper, leader of Germany's largest organization of lay Catholics. The whole thing has really shocked us as German Catholics. I can't imagine that he could come back. He has lost so much trust.