The Vatican is providing investing guidelines to help Catholic institutions and individuals invest in a way consistent with the values of their faith.
No investment of money is morally neutral; “either God’s kingdom is being advanced by the assets we deploy, or it is being neglected and undermined,” said a document titled “Mensuram Bonam”.
Mensuram Bonam (For Good Measure) refers to the biblical passage “For the measure you use will be measured back to you”.
It acknowledges that dioceses, Vatican congregations and Catholic organisations are responsible for growing their wealth, donations and investments to serve their mission. It insists that faith-consistent investment does not have to mean lower returns.
The document uses the principles of Catholic social teaching and definitive church pronouncements on issues such as abortion, nuclear weapons and the death penalty.
It calls on bishops’ conferences and other Catholic investors to develop investment criteria that are consistent with the Catholic tradition and inspired by “a solidarity-based commitment”.
While promoting needed financial returns, in terms of investments, the document emphasises the importance of “human dignity, care for creation and inclusive growth through united action bound by love”.
Initial work on the document was done under the auspices of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development when it was led by Cardinal Peter Turkson.
A first draft of the document was shared with reporters in January and then revised.
“The document simply is saying anyone who manages finances must also accept the responsibility of what the management of finances entails,” Cardinal Turkson said.
Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, the president of the Vatican Bank, said dangerous investments included gambling sites, dirty gas polluters, war profiteers and “adult entertainment, as they say”.
When management of assets is outsourced without strict guidelines, money can end up in less than holy places. “It certainly does happen,” he said.
The document, he stressed, was a guide, not a church dictate.
“No one is going to come and penalise you, absolutely no one,” Mr de Franssu agreed. “Except your conscience.”
The Holy See considers certain funds bad investments, no matter how lucrative. Companies that contradict church doctrine in areas like abortion or contraception are such offenders.
The guidelines also suggest that the faithful avoid investments harmful to workers or ones that strip natural resources, potentially producing economic migrants who undergo inhumane conditions to reach Europe.
Cardinal Turkson said the document includes other areas of concern that the bishops should consider adding to their criteria.
These include
- keeping animal experimentation to a minimum,
- discouraging the manufacture and marketing of computer games that glorify violence,
- upholding the rights of Indigenous people and
- not investing in companies connected to capital punishment, for example, by manufacturing the drugs used for lethal injections.