Episcopophobic? Who is scared of Bishops?

Certainly not me. There have been a number of labels created in the past few weeks some, possibly, due to the post on Bishop Thomas Burns (carried by Catholic Church Conservation, Damian Thompson, The Hermeneutic of Continuity, Fr Ray Blake, That the bones you have crushed may thrill (TTBYHCMT ?), Forest Murmurs and many others.
'Episcopophobe' was one new label posted by someone called Joe and as it was linked to this blog, I guess it may be levelled at me. But we need to remember the roots of our language ere we get carried away with name tags. Phobia means fear of and I ain't scared of any Bishop other than the Bishop of Rome.

I do not hate, fear or dislike any of them. I do, at times despise them if they have failed their flock and continue to do so. I do get justifiably angry with them if they write in bad, unintelligible English; I abhor the fact that, in so many instances, they are disloyal and disobedient to the Holy Father, I do get frustrated when they so blatantly fail to come up with initiatives for implementing Summorum Pontificum, it pains me when I see  them bully and persecute good priests just because they wish to offer the Latin Mass and I do intensely prefer not to be patronised by them. But hate or fear? No.

Next comes the question, "Should we criticise our Bishops?" The answer has to be that if it is justified, yes...a resounding YES! But, of course, it must be done with Christian charity.
We have a duty to point out to those in authority, any failings they may be showing in their pastoral care. If we do not then we become culpable.
I may be guilty (almost certainly) of poking a finger of fun at their Lordships from time to time but, I am a Brit and it is a national trait for us to defuse horrendous situations or actions by injecting a touch of humour here and there; it helps to maintain one's sanity apart from anything else.

The sad thing is, we have such a paucity of talent among the Episcopacy of England and Wales. And it is sad that they, or some of them, seek the clubland security reassurances of the Magic Circle.
Where are the men of iron who were not afraid to stand up for the faith? The Newmans, Heenans, Vaughans, Mannings and so on. Why can't todays Bishops see how much they would be loved (by their priests and flocks as well as by God) if they only set to and got to grips with Catholic Education, Adoption, Clerical Abuse and the host of other pressing issues.
Tragically, I am left with the belief that they all harbour ambitions of UDI type control. Anything from Rome must be suppressed or distorted; look at how they have bumbled on for eons over Anglican conversions. In reality, they were keeping the issue at bay. Along comes Pope Benedict and, Bingo! It happens....within months not years!

So, I shall keep on plugging away. After all, it is almost twenty two years to the day that my then Bishop wrote to me stating that (by eschewing modern Catholic liturgies and practices and focusing on traditional forms of worship and catechetics) I was condemning myself to hell for all eternity. I still have the correspondence today. It has helped me enormously over the years as it was so erroneous and un Christian in sentiment that I have felt stronger in my resolve and my faith since then, not weaker.