Rome: The Vatican’s former secretary of state has reportedly angered Pope Francis with his plans to move into a luxury, 7,500sq ft apartment as the Pontiff urges the clergy to adopt a more modest lifestyle.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 79, was secretary of state from 2006 to 2013 and briefly in charge of the Holy See and its administration when Pope Benedict XVI suddenly resigned last February.
After his election, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Pietro Parolin to replace him as secretary of state.
According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, Cardinal Bertone’s lavish changes to an apartment in the San Carlo Palace inside the walls of the Vatican are causing unease.
The flat is next door to St Martha’s House - the simple Vatican hotel where Francis has made his home after spurning the ostentatious Apostolic Palace where popes usually live.
La Repubblica said the cardinal’s new apartment included a large rooftop terrace and would be about 10 times bigger than Pope Francis’s home once extensive renovations had been completed this summer.
Last month, the Pope accepted the resignation of a German bishop, Franz-Peter Terbartz-van Elst, nicknamed the “bishop of bling” for spending £25 million (Dh154 million) to renovate his residence.
