Transparently Opaque

Cardinal George of Chicago recently sent a letter to all parishes in the Chicago Archdiocese to highlight the improvements by the church in protecting children over the last several years. Increased transparency and accountability has led to a safer environment for children, he contends. The Cardinal’s letter was prompted by the court ordered public release of the files of 30 documented child sexual predators in the Archdiocese. Some people are pointing to the release as evidence of the church’s new commitment to transparency.

I suppose that depends on how you define transparency. As for me, I consider court ordered transparency to be no transparency at all. Matt Abbott, a Catholic writer asked for my comments on the Cardinal’s letter and he incorporated some of them into his most recent article:  Differing Views on the Cardinal’s Letter of ‘accountability’ and ‘transparency.’