No, it’s got nothing to do with Halloween – finances.  In a story about how the Archdiocese of Chicago is trying to take a strong defensive line against financial improprieties.

(Actually, I’m not so sure that this definition of "occult compensation, offered in the story, is correct. Read the old CE definition and see what you think.)

Anyway:

Part of the archdiocese’s strategy was setting up an anonymous "hotline" last year for reports of suspected financial misconduct in Catholic parishes and other institutions. The hotline was also among recommendations in the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting reforms made law in the wake of the Enron scandal, said Tom Brennan, financial director of the Chicago Archdiocese.

While not-for-profits, such as the archdiocese, are not required to adhere to the Sarbanes-Oxley provisions, archdiocesan officials felt it was the right thing to do, Brennan said.

"Will it ever happen again? Probably," George said of financial hanky-panky in parishes. "Will we know it much more quickly? Yes."

In its first year, more than two dozen tips have come in through the hotline, said the Rev. Raymond Baumhart, former president of Loyola University, a business ethicist and personal consultant to the cardinal. Of those approximately 28 calls to the hotline, about half were nonsense, Baumhart said, and the other half received some follow-up.