What Do They Mean By "Transparent Investigation"?

Espionage networks are carefully compartmented into cells, with the knowledge of the network limited within each cell, so that if one cell is compromised, only the information known to members of that cell is exposed. Thus an "investigation" into something like the Rosenberg A-bomb spy ring is a real investigation, slowly uncovering facts that had previously been known only to a very limited group. In cases like the Rosenbergs, where the results of the investigation become known in a public trial, there is also transparency.

Looking for statements from the USCCB on the Second Crisis, I did a web search on "USCCB transparent investigation", and as one might expect, I got many hits, dating back many years. Here's one from 2017, before the Second Crisis, that ends:

we reaffirm that when such allegations occur, an immediate, thorough, and transparent investigation should begin in cooperation with law enforcement and immediate steps be taken to protect children. The protection of children and young people is our most sacred responsibility.

Clearly this is boilerplate that's trotted out whenever something that requires it occurs (in this case, a Vatican diplomat recalled over child pornography charges). I assume there was never any "transparent investigation". That boilerplate is used in such cases indicates one is never seriously expected, and the USCCB simply goes through the motions each time, until the next case comes up and the same boilerplate is trotted out.

But there's another issue beyond just boilerplate. An investigation into a compartmented espionage ring uncovers information that only a few people knew about. What's going on among the College of Cardinals isn't the same thing -- it appears that it's all an open secret that just about everyone knows. At about 22:00 in this episode of Church Militant's Download, there's an outline of a network that seems to be common knowledge to anyone with serious interest in the Church:

It goes:

{Cardinal Joseph] Tobin took over after [Cardinal John] Myers, who actually paid for sex abuse for McCarrick; [Cardinal Kevin] Farrell lived with McCarrick in Washington, DC for six years [unintelligible] and [Cardinal Blaise] Cupich is in the tank with Wuerl saying we don't want any investigation [unintelligible] homosexuality has nothing to do with it. . . and Tobin has since come out saying he knew about the payment as well.

This episode is dated August 9, before the Second Crisis began in earnest with the Pennsylvania grand jury report, and it appears that concerns about Cardinal Wuerl had reached the press before that time. The panelists go on to suggest that even right-of-center Catholic media like EWTN or the Register have been reluctant to cover these issues. Yesterday I cited a piece in The Catholic Thing that said in part, "Certainly, if decades ago, McCarrick had similarly powerful patrons in the Vatican, there must be some record of when and where they intervened."

I sense a look of irony on the writer's face here -- this is probably common knowledge, not something that needs a J Edgar Vatican investigation to uncover. I suspect that if Catholic media were doing a more complete job, an "investigation" wouldn't be needed -- but in the USCCB, I have some concern that we're still back at "protecting the children".

A commission isn't going to help.