Bishop's lavish spending angers his flock in Limburg, Germany

Since being elected in March, Pope Francis has made a mark with his displays of modesty, eschewing lavish papal apartments for a spartan Vatican guesthouse, wearing simple vestments, carrying his own bag and preaching against a church hierarchy that he said was overly insular and too often led by "narcissists".

Apparently, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, 53, the bishop of Limburg, Germany, for almost six years, is not on the same page.

Catholic bishops rarely serve as Page 1 tabloid fodder or top the national TV ratings. But the Limburg prelate earned this dubious distinction last week as outrage swelled after the media reported the €31 million (HK$325 million) cost of the renovation of his residence, and a state prosecutor in Hamburg charged him with lying in a legal case.

The bishop ordered up a palatial living room, and his apartment alone cost €2.9 million, according to Jochen Riebel, spokesman for the body administering church property in Limburg. Riebel said the bishop had lied last summer when confronted over the cost, estimating the renovation at just €10 million.

Citing Riebel, the German news agency dpa itemised the work: €350,000 for carpentry and built-in cupboards; €450,000 for art; €100,000 for windows for a private chapel; €25,000 for a conference table; €15,000 for his bathtub.

"For heaven's sake!" the headline atop the nation's largest-selling tabloid, Bild, screamed.