Brother - I am writing because I am quite concerned regarding what our diocesan bishop is doing. Let me preface my statement by saying I have nothing against him on a personal level. He is a very likeable, and loving, man. He is very ecumenical and (having converted from a protestant faith tradition myself) I sincerely applaud him for his ecumenical endeavours.

What worries me, though, is that it seems his ecumenical stance is causing his Catholic convictions (and those of our diocese) to be severely compromised. It has come to my attention that belief in the Real Presence has been significantly watered down in many parishes (so as not to offend our protestant brothers and sisters). I was speaking to a priest in our diocese last week, and he said we pay too much attention to the Presence of Our Lord in the Tabernacle - to the detriment of the real presence of Jesus in each other. Liturgy has been watered down to such an extent that sometimes it seems more "protestant" rather than Catholic. Women 'deaconesses' are permitted to preach homilies during week-day Masses - and some of these 'deaconesses' are very much in favour of women being ordained as priests! And I've just found out tonight (prior to writing this message) that a religious priest in our diocese went and preached in an anglo-catholic parish (i.e. an anglican parish) in the city where I live. I didn't think a Catholic priest was permitted to preach in a non-Catholic church (even though this was an 'anglo-catholic' parish with all the "bells-and-smells" etc.). Now, all this is going on with the permission of our diocesan bishop and people are obviously taking advantage of his "ecumenical" good-will.

Another illustration, too, is of particular interest. Last year, we had an "ecumenical dialogue" with anglicans (mainly the "protestant evangelical" type so prevalent where I live). Our dear Catholic bishop was debating with the anglican bishop of our region. We Catholics who were attending expected our bishop to "have the anglican bishop for dinner", so-to-speak. The topic debated was "The Eucharist - Difference Between Catholic and Anglican/Protestant Understanding". The reverse happened. Our bishop's presentation on the Eucharist was very lame, and the anglican bishop "won" hands-down! And the non-Catholics attending were very disappointed because they genuinely wanted to understand what Catholics believe. And they were none the wiser after our bishops presentation.

What should be done? Is there any way our bishop can be corrected - if correction is necessary? I'm aware of priests being corrected by the diocesan bishop, but who corrects bishops when they are out of order? Other dioceses in our city are very orthodox and traditional and vocations are growing. However in our particular diocese, there aren't any vocations at all - maybe because it's becoming more and more protestant.

I look forward to hearing from you.