Transparency is Pastoral

Stephen White of Catholic University writes about the case of the Argentinian bishop, Gustavo Zanchetta, who was recently sentenced to prison for the sexual abuse of young men.

“The Zanchetta case is not the first time in which the selective and deferential treatment of well-connected prelates has aggravated an already scandalous pastoral situation. There was Bishop Juan Barros in Chile, whom Francis apologized for defending; there was Theodore McCarrick, especially during the pontificates of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI; before that there was, perhaps most notoriously, Fr. Marcial Maciel. The list goes on. In each of these cases, it was not legalism, but its opposite that caused damage to the Church.”

Read the whole column.

*Image: Pope Francis and Bishop Zanchetta in Rome [Vatican Media]