The secret report on transparency
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 06, 2012
The irony is palpable in yesterday’s AP story about the report submitted by European banking inspectors regarding Vatican financial procedures. The story begins:
The Vatican got a report card Wednesday on its efforts to be more financially transparent — but it's a secret for now.
OK, we get it: The report is about transparency, but you can’t read the report yet. Not very transparent. Point taken.
But just for the record, the procedures that call for secrecy in this report are established by the European banking inspectors of Moneyval, not by the Vatican. And the full report (which is roughly equivalent to an audit) will be made public in a month, once Vatican officials and Moneyval inspectors have compared notes—not to cover up any criticisms, but simply to ensure that they are accurate.
If you want to scold the Vatican for excessive secrecy, be my guest. But don’t use this report as an example.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: John J Plick -
Jul. 08, 2012 12:14 PM ET USA
This is the "elephant in the living room" of our own Church in this time..., a Church which has no scruples about letting "others," indeed "outsiders," set the moral pace. As the American Bishops scandalouslly abandoned the moral standard to the American civil government regarding the sexual behavior of its priests so the Vatican surrenders the moral standard to the European bankers, receiving a "report card" from them! The Church used to lead the way in Europe, but now it follows!
