IN MANY international organisations (including the European Union), there are internal tensions caused by different attitudes towards truth-telling. At the risk of dealing in huge stereotypes, it's a commonplace of social anthropology that there are some cultures and sub-cultures that attach high importance to truth-telling and regard telling direct lies as shameful; and others which foster a keen sense of the importance of "saving face" (one's own, or the family's, or the organisation's) and feel it's okay to tell fibs to keep up appearances. Within both Europe and the United States (again, sorry for the stereotype), the latter mindset seems more prevalent in southern regions than northern ones.
A similar cultural fault-line apparently runs through the global Catholic church, and it has affected the response to child abuse allegations. That at least is the implication of some public testimony that Australia's top Catholic cleric has just given, before heading off to Rome to take on a job that will include responsibility for the Vatican's murky finances.