[On October 28th, OMI USA JPIC Director, Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI lectured students on ethics and finance during a course at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA]
The course- MS&E 148: Ethics of Finance – Explores the ethical reasoning needed to make banking, insurance and financial services safer, fairer and more positively impactful and fit for purpose in the 21st Century. This also follows the movement from shareholder to stakeholder capitalism.
The presentation explored the religious and philosophical roots of ethical practice in finance and banking and discussed particular challenges that individual countries and other major institutions operating in a global financial system face.
In addition, the presentation focused on responsibilities of shareholders in a capitalist system and how that has evolved in recent years to discussions about stakeholder capitalism and the absence of environment, workers and local communities as major stakeholders in the system.
The presentation concluded with a robust discussion on how corporate retail shareholders can be more active in exercising their ownership and integrating their beliefs and values into the decision-making process. This, of course, includes engaging corporate leaders either through proxy votes or attending their annual general meetings.
On October 20, 2024, Father Marcelo Pérez was murdered after a church service by two assailants on a motorcycle. Fr. Marcelo was an Indigenous priest and staunch advocate for human rights and anti-violence in Chiapas, Mexico.
Due to his prominent leadership in peace movements, Fr. Marcelo received several threats, and was issued protective measures by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR).
We join with Latin America Working Group (LAWG) in condemning this attack, along with the ongoing armed violence in the region.
On Friday, October 18, more than 65 people from the metropolitan Washington, DC Council of Governments visited Three Part Harmony Farm on the grounds of the Oblate administrative offices .
This was a great opportunity to tell the story of Missionary Oblates’ presence on this property since 1917 and the more than 10 year partnership we have enjoyed with Three-Part Harmony Farm.
Gail Taylor, Owner and Operator of Three-Part Harmony Farm gave a wonderful presentation on that story and answered questions from the assembled group on how they might expand organic gardening, rooftop gardening and building community supported gardens in their jurisdiction.
The weather provided a beautiful 75° fall day for them to take a tour of the garden and to witness the variety of vegetables that are continuing to be harvested on a weekly basis.
A New Heaven and a New Earth features songs written and recorded by hip-hop titan Aaron Cole; singer / songwriter Jason Gray; GRAMMY-nominated, Dove Awards-winning Building 429 frontman Jason Roy; chart-topper Micah Tyler; vocalist, producer and actress MŌRIAH; former Newsboys bassist and solo artist Phil Joel; and beloved CCM duo Waterdeep, comprised of husband and wife Don and Lori Chaffer. This elite roster of contributors resulted in thoughtfully written songs steeped in a vibrant array of sounds representing everything from pop, rock and hip-hop to R&B, folk and Americana.
This unique collection of songs is a clarion call for Christians to recognize their responsibility in creation care.
OMIUSAJPIC is pleased to have worked with a number of professional musicians from Nashville, TN, meeting with them to discuss the themes elaborated by Pope Francis in his encyclical letter, Laudato Sì.
Many of these songs are already being used in worship and offered in concerts by these artists and we hope to sponsor a few more concerts in the coming year.
Please share this great news with others in your faith communities and if you have any feedback or suggestions, we would love to hear from you via email at jpic@omiusa.org.
From October 1st through the 4th the 2024 RCRI Annual Conference was held in Orlando Florida with the theme, “People of God Walking Together on a Synodal Path.”
The keynote speaker was Sr. Teresa Maya, CCVI, Senior Director for Theology and Sponsorship in at the Catholic Health Association.
The 2024 program included workshops covering topics related to finance, canon and civil law, and planning for institutes in transition.
Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI was among the speakers, presenting on the panel “Meeting the Challenge of Mensuram Bonam” (Meaning ‘a good measure,’ investing in line with the principles of Catholic Social Teaching)
The session was a Christian Brother Investment Service (CBIS) -hosted panel discussion focused on educating Catholic asset owners/managers on implementing the call to action of Mensuram Bonam. The panel covered the practical implementation of Mensuram Bonam, highlighting real-world applications, challenges faced, and lessons learned. Additionally, the discussion delved into high-level concepts surrounding Mensuram Bonam, exploring its potential impact on Catholic—and faith-consistent investing.
Background: In 2022, Mensuram Bonam, a set of faith-consistent guidelines for Catholic investors, was published to provide a foundation for applying faith-consistent criteria to financial stewardship. The document aims to serve as a resource for entities to integrate Catholic Social Teaching into their investment policies.
