There are certain English bishops not, how shall I put this, notorious for their doctrinaire fidelity to papal teaching and the traditions of the Church. Take Bishop Kieran Conry. In July last year, for instance, he launched an attack on the Pope’s fight against secularisation (which has to be seen as being at the very heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral concerns); and if anyone wants to know more about Bishop Kieran’s scepticism about traditional Catholic beliefs and practices, have a look (if you are a digital Herald subscriber) at his now famous interview with Andrew M Brown. During the Pope’s visit, Bishop Conry was asked, in the company of Tabletistas Tina Beattie and Clifford Longley (by that great liberal ringmaster Ed Stourton; surprise, surprise) the question  “Will there be women priests in 100 years’ time?”. “Well,” replied Bishop Conry, with a knowing smirk, “according to Pope John Paul II, this was a definitive statement, wasn’t it, so… [laughter] I couldn’t possibly comment.” “Cue knowing sniggers from Tabletistas,” commented Damian Thompson. “And then he has the bloody nerve to kiss Pope Benedict’s ring at Oscott. Nice bloke, Kieran, but he has no business being a bishop.” I have noted in the past a certain concentration of these frisky bishops on the south coast, headed by their long established leader, Bishop Crispian Hollis. Someone who has to write regularly likes consistent behaviour: I like to be able to predict how people, especially those of whom I have been critical in the past, will react to certain questions and certain situations. Bishop Conry’s response to to Ed Stourton’s question about women priests, for instance, was 100 per cent predictable. So how does he now assess the results of the papal visit: easy, no? Sceptical at the very least, surely, if not actually hostile. Moving down the coast to Portsmouth, Bishop Hollis was one of those who 17 years ago aggressively shot down the scheme for allowing Anglican converts to be received in community, a scheme which Cardinal Hume still supported and which has now been realised in an even more radical form with the ordinariate. So, obviously: he’s against the ordinariate, isn’t he? Surely? Well, I am now entirely confused: unless both these south coast bishops are playing a deep and very devious game (which I have no reason to suppose), I have got it dead wrong. Here, speaking to Zenit, is Bishop Kieran on the Pope’s visit: