The former Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst, has a new job in the Roman Curia, the Vatican confirmed on Saturday.
The bishop, who resigned after details of his lavish spending caused a nationwide scandal in Germany, has been appointed to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation.
The confirmation of his appointment as “Delegate for Catechesis” was signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the papal nuncio in Germany, Archbishop Nicola Eterovic, on 5 December.
When Pope Francis accepted Tebartz’s resignation in March 2013 the Vatican said a new position would be found for him “at the opportune time”.
Bishop Tebartz, 56, carried out postgraduate studies in the US, at the university of Notre Dame in Indiana with a dissertation on US adult catechesis and later taught pastoral theology at the German universities of Münster and Passau. He was appointed Bishop of Limburg in 2008.
The German bishops carried out an investigation into Tebartz’s spending and thousands of German Catholics officially left the Church after details of his €31m (£26m) renovation of the bishop’s palace in Limburg – including the installation of a €15,000 bath tub – were revealed, earning him the nickname the “bishop of bling”.
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