Purple Passage

The Church of England does appear to have rather a lot of bishops, never mind archdeacons and cathedral staff. One really does have to wonder what they all do. Of course, we are just as bad in parts of the Continent. Especially, just how many bishops and even archbishops are there in Italy?

Meanwhile, the old, old report that the bishops are to be removed from the House of Lords is doing the rounds again. They are said to be there because of Establishment, whereas in fact they have been there since several centuries before the Reformation, and indeed they once predominated in the House as a whole. And their removal is said to be an attack on Establishment, which it is not.

In place of 26 bishops, let there be 13 elected representatives (strictly non-party, of course) of moral and spiritual values, and the same of the United Kingdom’s Christian heritage, a more than fair arrangement when one considers that the United Kingdom is seventy-two per cent Christian. Each of us would vote for one candidate, the 13 highest scorers would be declared elected, the term of office might be five years, and casual vacancies would be filled by bringing in number 14.