2011 - And for me it is going to be the Year of the Bishops!

St Thomas More challenges, Cardinal Wolsey - we need to take
inspiration from this man when we tackle our Bishops!

I mean that it is in 2011 that I intend to work, pray and strive to aid the Bishops of England and Wales in their Episcopal roles, after all, they do want laity involvement do they not?
Of course, I am not being quite so public spirited as it might first appear; my interest in the Bishops is all due to the fact that, I have had enough of them, their puerile defence of the faith in the media, their lack of spine in facing up to legislation on adoption by homosexuals, their general absolute lack of resepect or obedience to the directions and teachings of the Holy Father.
This is what Our Lady of Fatima meant when she said: "The Holy Father will have much to suffer."
I appreciate that many believe that we should pray for our Bishops and let them get on with it, after all, they are the Princes of the Church.......but they have had long enough to put the England and Wales house in order. Instead of order we have disarray.
What do the stats show? I suspect that the decline in Mass attendance figures, conversion rates,  number of Baptisms and Marriages are at an all time low. Who is responsible?
So what can be done?

Firstly, all that can be done should be done with the full force of Christian charity; no histrionics, no snide remarks - no "Punch and Judy contest" as David Cameron remarked when he became leader of the Conservative Party.
That does not mean that we should be soft on failure or disobedience to the Magisterium, we need to be clear, unequivocal and straightforward, no pulling of punches.

Where to start? How about by reviewing a few facts about our Bishops?
For example, has your man publicly defended the faith in a full and confident manner?
Has he issued guidelines to Catholic Schools regarding how he will protect them when they stand firm against the imposition of sex education. Has he re-taken the high ground over homosexual adoption and instructed Catholic Adoption Agencies accordingly.
Has he fully implemented the teachings of the Holy Father (and past Holy Fathers) with regard to:-

a) Priestly celibacy
b) Women priests
c) Extraordinary Form of Mass
d) Priestly freedom to celebrate EF Masses as and when they see fit or in accord with  
    parochial demand.
e) Freedom of entry to seminaries for young men who hold to an orthodox stance in
    their faith.

I suspect that the answer to all of the above is NO. So, maybe, a start needs to be made to hold them to account. I am working on a project that I will publish shortly, once the full facts are made available, meanwhile, pray and watch this space!