I fully share the agony of Mary Geoghegan (“Unaccountable parish priest”, Letters, 28 June) and I am sure many others do. The reason is simple: we have experienced autocratic rule in our own parishes and dioceses. Mary Geoghegan wonders whether the bishops have any responsibility to the laity in the diocese. And I wonder whether the parish priests have any responsibility to the laity in the parish. The root of this malaise lies in the loss of the sense of the Church being a communion of communities, and these communities resulting from the communion of individuals. Vatican II teaching on the collegiality of bishops has not really been taken seriously.In the past, the Vatican has been appointing candidates who would not question it and whom it need not consult as bishops.