Moral corruption, cronyism, lying, theft and embezzlement are as old as human history. However, there are times when they become so commonplace among the political, economic and/or spiritual leaders of a society that they point to a profound crisis of integrity in public life. Cicero witnessed such a crisis in the late Roman Republic, which, in his opinion, was falling prey to dangerous levels of manipulative and self-serving behavior among the political elite. The Catholic Church experienced a similar crisis in the 15th and 16th centuries, as many of its rulers deviated from their original mission statement to love and serve with generosity and humility the people of God. The German nation suffered a serious crisis of integrity in the 1930s and 1940s, when it was unable to stem the spread of totalitarianism and anti-Semitism in the heart of its political and cultural elite.

It is safe to say that the constitutional democracies of the West are undergoing a crisis of integrity of the kind described above. Although it does not manifest itself in the triumph of totalitarian and fascist ideologies, we are witnessing a dramatic decline in confidence in public institutions and a series of scandals of abuse and misappropriation from which virtually no profession or sector of public life is spared.

Numerous Christian churches in Europe and the US have been rocked by disturbing revelations about child abuse by a small but significant minority of priests; the financial sector, once a symbol of respectable prosperity, has been brought into disgrace by revelations of reckless investments and outright fraud; large corporations have been found guilty of masking financial losses with creative accounting practices; and a disturbing issue of respectable politicians have been caught embezzling state funds and accepting political bribes.

Faced with the declining moral caliber of our civic, economic and religious institutions, there have been calls in various quarters for more "transparency" and "accountability," the formulation and
and religious institutions, there have been calls in various quarters for more "transparency" and "accountability," the formulation and revision of "codes of ethics" and the creation of tribunals to investigate and denounce past malpractices. Efforts to undertake legal and institutional reforms and greater oversight have had some success. For example, public inquiries have revealed some aspects of institutional corruption, bank lending is more rigorously monitored by banking regulators, and the financial affairs of politicians are more closely scrutinized than ever before.

However, more than regulation and oversight is required. Institutional and legal reforms will be ineffective if they are not accompanied by a fundamental transformation of the ethos of society's leaders. After all, they will be the ones most directly responsible for driving and implementing reforms. In this sense, we need a moral renewal of the culture of our public institutions. This would entail a reform of the ethos or ethical attitudes and dispositions that have led those in political, religious and economic leadership to fail in their public responsibilities, and a concerted effort to cultivate the virtues of public service, such as justice, courage, truthfulness and magnanimity in the next generation of political, economic and spiritual leaders.

We could begin the path of ethical reform by launching a frank public conversation about the virtues and standards that guide public service, broadly understood to encompass the services provided by government, civil service, churches, industry, charities, media, educational institutions, financial regulatory agencies and banks. LPO Once a clearer picture emerges of what subject of social functions our civic, religious and economic institutions fulfill and, consequently, what subject of attitudes our institutional leaders can expect - or crave - we can identify strategies for cultivating the relevant ethos in the circles in which they move and from which they emerge.

These strategies would probably comprise some elements of Education moral for public service, but could also include civic forums to encourage serious public discussion about public service values; internal forums within public institutions to periodically deliberate on long-term goals deadline and day-to-day policies; opt-out clauses for institutional actors who, in good conscience, cannot collaborate with all of an organization's tasks; and legal protection for individuals who feel a moral obligation to report serious breaches of legal or professional standards. These and other reforms of the ethos of public institutions could be promoted by both state and non-state actors, separately or in public-private partnerships.

I would not like to conclude without highlighting a serious obstacle to the subject of reforms I have proposed: the view - which has unfortunately gained positions in modern societies that one can assume a public role and attend to its corresponding demands while privately subscribing to a totally different set of moral and religious principles.

Admittedly, this view has its advantages. For example, bureaucratic efficiency works better with a complete "buy-in" to an institution's values than with constant moral conflict. Moreover, by accepting the ethos of the institutions we join, regardless of our personal doubts about them, we are spared many conflicts and labor tensions.

However, recent revelations of high levels of institutional corruption and/or ineptitude remind us that the values and customs of public institutions are often a mixture of good and evil. While some level of adaptation and respect for institutional norms seems reasonable and appropriate, institutional actors should exercise their roles with a deep sense of responsibility staff, being willing to judge for themselves whether the supposed demands of their functions are reasonable and fair, or not. This subject judgment can only be made if the actor in question performs his function not as an unreflective routine, but as a commitment staff that puts his own values and aspirations at stake.

The moral renewal I proclaim in the ethos of our major political, economic and religious institutions is not easy, of course. However, the recent spate of scandals - across a wide range from professional incompetence to criminal activity that have sent our public institutions reeling suggests that it has been too long overdue. Perhaps, a good starting point might be the recognition that those in public institutions are not simply "cogs in a machine," but people with a conscience and the right and responsibility to put it at the service of truth and justice.