News Archives » Fr. Séamus Finn
Church Leaders, Financial Experts Meet to Discuss Ways to Make Investments More Ethical & Effective November 12th, 2024
(Pictured L to R) Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, Apostolic Nuncio to the Court of St James: Alan Smith, First Church Estates Commissioner; Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences; Cardinal Reinhold Marx, President of the Vatican Council for the Economy, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster; (Back row) Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, President of the Institute of the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank; Sr Helen Alford, OP, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences; Bishop David Urquhart, Advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury; Rev. Séamus P. Finn OMI, Chief Faith Consistent Investment, OIP Trust
READ FULL Religious Media Center article: https://bit.ly/3CwXrRP
Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI Gives Lecture on the “Ethics of Finance” at Stanford University October 30th, 2024
By. Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI, Director, JPIC & Chief Faith Consistent Investing – OIP Trust
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[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.
The 50-year Legacy of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in this arena was an important part of my presentation.
Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI Moderates Environmental Justice Event June 2nd, 2023
In April, the Socially Responsible Investment Coalition (SRIC) held their 2023 Annual Educational Event, Environmental Justice: Reducing Ecological Impacts and Social Inequalities at Whitley Theological Center – Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.
The event was moderated by Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI and the first ever Citizen Advocate Excellence Award was presented to Sr. Elizabeth Riebschlaeger, CCVI. Keynote speakers were, Virginia Palacios, Executive Director of Commission Shift and City Councilman Mario Bravo, representing San Antonio District 1.
WATCH THE EVENT VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq0OYDdRYHg
Virginia Palacios, spoke on her experiences in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas and environmental justice. City Councilman Mario Bravo, spoke of his time working on political campaigns, eventually transitioning into work around clean energy/energy efficiency. He noted his first job after graduating from college was with the Environmental Defense Fund.
For over a decade, the honoree Sr. Elizabeth, has worked with small communities throughout the Eagle Ford Shale that are experiencing health impacts and environmental pollution from oil and gas development, helping them to navigate agency complaints and permitting processes, and drawing attention to the issues they face.
Cisco Shareholders Vote Down Oblate-Proposed Plan for Tax Transparency December 14th, 2022
Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI, Director, OMIUSA JPIC, OIP
“While payment of taxes does not rank high on anybody’s wish list, they are the contributions that individuals, organizations and institutions make at all levels so that governments can function and fulfill their responsibilities. Many corporations seek to hide from the public how much they pay in the different countries in which that they operate around the world. As shareholders and citizens, we believe that access to this information allows us to verify for ourselves if they are compliant in these matters and paying their fair share to support 
the common good, relieve the dire poverty and suffering of many and help to build a sustainable future for all. The OIP and the OMI USP have been leading proponents of this request with Cisco, Amazon and Microsoft, three of the largest companies resisting this proposal”. “This resolution with CISCO was supported by 27% of the shareholders last week, a vote total that is considered very acceptable for the first year that a resolution is presented, and allows us to present the resolution again in 2023”
Click here to see a report on Cisco’s action by Kevin Pinner for Law 360
Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI Speaks at Harvard Islamic Finance Conference October 21st, 2022
Cambridge, Massachusetts
– October 21 & 22, 2022 –
