THE Bishop of Bristol believes that if Jesus were alive today he would be camping on College Green, rather than retreating to the shadows of the Cathedral.

The Right Reverend Mike Hill, speaking for the first time since the Occupy Bristol demonstrators set up camp on the cathedral- owned land, admitted he had been surprised by the way the protest had taken off – and that he was both saddened and puzzled by the high-profile resignations that had occurred as a result of a sister protest at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

But Bishop Mike said he had "full confidence" in the leadership shown by the Dean of Bristol Cathedral, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, whom he said had "done absolutely everything right" in relation to the protest.

The Bishop said there are no plans, "not even being debated behind the scenes" in the diocese, to evict the protesters from College Green, and that he is praying for a "non-violent resolution" to the situation.

"We didn't invite them to set up camp on our doorstep, but now they're here we're not going to turn to violence to get rid of them," he said. "In many ways, much of what the protesters are calling for chimes perfectly with Christian ethics, certainly in terms of the need for greater social equality and a greater concentration on morality in the banking world.

"But I think they let themselves down a little because the waters are muddied – there are too many people pushing very different agendas on the back of these protests. They need to be more focused on what they actually want to achieve.

"I've just come back from London, where I saw one of the protesters calling for money to be abolished. He's going to be camping on the steps of St Paul's for a long time if that's his goal.

"As it is, I do think if Jesus were alive today he probably would be camping out with the protesters on College Green – but only if they were more focused on the agenda of improving social equality.

"After all, Jesus had quite a track record when it came to protesting against social inequality – as the Church has ever since.

"I'm not going to deny there is an element of the establishment about the Church of England, but I know we have hundreds of people in our churches here in Bristol alone who spend all their time and effort in quietly helping the poor and needy – in the Church we tend to be advocates rather than protesters."

The Bishop, who was a successful businessman in the printing industry before joining the clergy, and "would have considered himself a wuss if he hadn't owned three businesses by the age of 25", knows and understands the pressures of the high-flying commercial world better than most clergymen.

But he said the momentum behind the current protests could change the shape of capitalism in the Western world.

"I don't think this is the end of capitalism, but I think it will provide an opportunity to change the way capitalism works in our society.

"We do have to question whether the banks were being truly responsible for all those years when they were happy to take on all that unsecured debt.

"We do have to look at why our culture relies so heavily on high levels of consumption – something that creates devastating ripples in response to relatively small drops in the market."

So would Bishop Mike consider visiting the protesters in College Green?

"I've not been to the camp yet," he admitted. "And I don't have any immediate plans to, because I see my role as being to work on the over-arching issues in the Church in our region – and as a result I spend much of my time away from Bristol.

"But I may go down there and talk to them at some point – I may be the Bishop, but I'm certainly not scared of getting my hands dirty."

So how would he feel if the protesters' tents were still littering College Green at Christmas?

"I believe that in a democracy these guys have a legitimate right to peaceful protest, and the last thing we would ever want to do would be to go down the road of forced eviction that could lead to any kind of violent clashes," he said.

"So they may very well still be there at Christmas, in which case my primary concern would be for their wellbeing, sleeping out in the cold of the winter nights.

"Ultimately I think they need to make their point, and then think about moving on."