FILE – In this Sept. 24, 2013 file picture Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, right, attends a mass during the meeting of German bishops in Fulda, Germany, A German court says it’s shelved a case against a German bishop removed from his diocese by the Vatican over a furor caused by the cost of his new residence. The Hamburg administrative court said Monday Nov. 18, 2013 the case against Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst would be closed upon his payment of a 20,000 euro ($27,000) fine. The bishop was accused of giving false statements in a case he brought against Der Spiegel magazine over its report he flew first-class to India on a trip to visit poor children. (AP Photo/dpa,Arne Dedert)
BERLIN (AP) — A German court says it’s shelved a case against a German bishop removed from his diocese by the Vatican over a furor caused by the cost of his new residence.
The Hamburg administrative court said Monday the case against Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst would be closed upon his payment of a 20,000 euro ($27,000) fine.
The bishop was accused of giving false statements in a case he brought against Der Spiegel magazine over its report that he flew first-class to India on a trip to visit poor children.
The dpa news agency said prosecutors only accepted the deal after Tebartz-van Elst confessed, but diocese spokesman Stephan Schnelle would not comment beyond the court press release.
The church is investigating the bishop’s spending of 31 million euros on his residence.
