Letter: Power to the parishes, and the flying bishops

Sir: At last, by appointing two 'flying bishops', and with the squeal of rubber on concrete, the Church of England arrives in the fourth century ('Two 'flying bishops' are named', 17 February):

Throngs of bishops hastened hither and thither . . . and while each sought to impose on the other his own interpretation of the faith, they achieved nothing but a complete breakdown of the overburdened means of transportation. (Ammianus Marcellinus: History 21, 16).

Yours faithfully,

ANDREW MOORE

Acting Chaplain

Worcester College

Oxford

17 February