Bishop Of Neuquén; Bishop Of Leeds

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I wasn't excessively pleased with myself, once I saw the number of hits on Sitemeter and where they were from. I was worried that I had possibly traduced a Bishop by not looking up his side of the story, and by publishing one that put him in a bad light. My worry was excessive.
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According to the local newspaper, which prints the dialogue between the Bishop and the young people who defended his Cathedral, the Bishop himself tried subsequently to pour oil on troubled waters.
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Whenever there is a large group of people gathered together, he says, there is always the risk that a tiny minority might try to make something of it. The press gathers at a particular place and if anything is going to happen, it will be magnified out of all proportion. Nobody, the Bishop feels, should place too much importance on what had happened (ie on what we see in the video) because what we should be looking for in everybody is the way in which we can grow in mutual acceptance and tolerance, even when we have ideological differences.
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Now: this is sad, and it is wrong on so many counts. But it was interesting to note that somebody had linked this film to what is happening with the Diocese of Leeds and the closure of parishes there.
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I wonder, tentatively, if there is a problem with the ecclesiology of some of our Bishops: that Bishop Roche, just like Bishop Melani, and goodness knows how many others don't know what Bishops are actually for. They portray a vision of Bishop that is somehow superior to that of the priest as social worker, and make the episcopal office that of a regional manager with responsibility for the definition of social attitude in his region on behalf of the Board, with a few additional functions on the side like responsibility for Confirmation when there is no Vicar General available, Ordination when it can be a concelebratory function, and Prophetic Leadership of a Local Church in Communion with Christ and his Vicar beyond time. The additional functions are a bit problematic.
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This is why Episcopal Conferences as constituted are such an abysmally awful idea: all they can do is weaken the individual who carries the personal responsibility for his Church and dilute the layman's perception of what that responsibility is and should be. It's hard to imagine the selection of a Bishop who will break out of this magic circle: but let's pray that MO'C's successor will be the one. Let's have Bishops who are Bishops again!