Secrets

I've been following two stories in the news: the pope's comments on a Vatican "gay lobby", and the government's surveillance. What these two stories have in common is secrecy - the desire of organizations to keep secrets, the blasting of those who reveal them, and the scandal that results.

The Church keeps a lot of secrets ... one of the biggest examples has been the world-wide cover-up of sex abuse ... and the fact that there are gay men among the Church's hierarchy or that vows of celibacy are often ignored in the priesthood ... well, the ship has sailed on keeping those things secret. The problem comes not from those facts but from wanting to conceal them. As with the scandal of the government surveilling‎ millions of its own citizens without probable cause, there can be no respect for those in charge if they're dishonest, there can be no accountability or change for the better without public awareness and discussion.

I think Pope Francis' remark about the "gay lobby" is a start towards that needed transparency - unlike B16, he isn't locking away secrets in a vault. Now if only the government will follow suit.