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Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI to Address Business Ethics Conference in Orange County, CA April 12th, 2011
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI – Director of the Oblate JPIC Office and Board member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility – will give the keynote address on corporate responsibility and socially responsible investing. He encourages people to integrate their beliefs — such as caring for the environment and paying workers a fair wage — into their investment and business decisions.
“You don’t have to sacrifice return on your investment or profit from your business by integrating either your beliefs or your values into that process,” Fr. Finn said.
He sees the issue moved to the front burner because of the string of problems in the Middle East.
“What it does for me is shine a spotlight on that part of the world and ask a question about whether or not the U.S. has been turning a blind eye to the plight of a lot of citizens in these countries and imported refugee labor because we need the oil,” he said.
But Fr. Finn, who has been pushing for social responsibility in business for more than two decades, said he sees reason for hope as more companies put the environment and people first with tags like organic and sweatshop-free.
“There’s a reason to be optimistic I think because the consumer — the person who’s out there buying a computer or a car or some piece of clothing — they’re asking more questions about where these things come from,” Finn said. “What I think is intriguing and encouraging is that it’s not as difficult to get answers to these questions as it was 20 years ago. You can take our your iPhone or Android and if you have a question, you can put it in there and someplace out there in this vast web of Internet connectivity you’re going to get some answers.”
Read the article at the Daily Pilot
Faith and Finance October 20th, 2010
The ICCR financial services sector team has released a White Paper called “Faith and Finance: Finding Common Ground to Protect the Common Good”. The paper presents principles considered important both to rebuild the financial system and to restore public confidence in the major financial institutions and government regulators.
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI is an active member of the ICCR Financial Services team that is responsible for the paper.
Download a PDF of the paper here…
ICCR Members on The Daily Show: Holier Than Dow June 20th, 2010
Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) working on financial reform appear on The Daily Show. Samantha Bee interviewed the group of Catholics: Seamus Finn, OMI, Sr. Barbara Aires, SCNJ, Fr. Joe LaMar, MM and Cathy Rowan, representing the Maryknoll Sisters.
Watch the video:
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Watch the video on the Daily Show website
Medicines Patent Pool Formally Established June 9th, 2010
The Board of UNITAID, the European entity funded by an airline tax to support increased HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB treatment in developing countries, has formally established a Medicines Patent Pool. NGOs and faith-based shareholders concerned about access to medicines among the poor in developing countries have pressed for the formation of a patent pool as a way to lower costs and increase availability of essential medicines.
The Board approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNITAID and the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation (MPPF) on June 8. The MPPF will be established as an independent organization under Swiss Law. The 3 founders are Paulo Teixeira (Brazil), Charles Clift (UK) and Benard Pecoul (France).
Interested in learning more? Go to other posts on this website and the UNITAID website.
Seamus Finn, OMI and Faith Consistent Investing Profiled in the Huffington Post May 27th, 2010
Fr. Seamus Finn, Director of the Oblate JPIC Office, along with three other ICCR members, will soon appear on The Daily Show, highlighting their work on banking and financial sector reform. Read this fine profile on Fr. Seamus in the Huffington Post written by Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University: Mission Improbable: Priests on Wall Street.
