Recently, I had the honor to represent SGI at the Mensuram Bonam (For Good Measure, Luke 6:38) Conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in Rome. The conference drew about 120 people from around the globe to reflect upon the document and the state of faith-consistent investing. Participants included clergy and religious and lay persons who serve within religious congregations, archdioceses and dioceses, asset advisors and managers, banks, foundations, and faith-based investor coalitions.
The conference gathered us a few days after the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality concluded, and so we dialogued, in the synod’s spirit, with deep listening to others alongside a commitment to co-responsibility. The conference aimed to to prompt collaborative learning and reflection on Catholic Social Thought, using Mensuram Bonam as a source and guide in faith-consistent investing. We shared lessons, ongoing questions, best-practices, and dreams. Practically, the conference identified certain future collaborations to advance the faith-consistent investing movement.
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) members had a significant role in the conference. Fr. Séamus Finn O.M.I. was one of the organizers.
Shareholder democracy is essentially about every shareholder taking responsibility for their stock ownership positions and acting on them. In Catholic Social Teaching ownership is anchored on the cornerstones of rights and responsibilities. The Vatican Guidelines referenced in this WSJ article took 6 years to produce and will be a very helpful to both institutional and individual shareholders who want to make this a part of their missionary vocation. It was a special opportunity for me to be able to share our OMI decades of experience in faith aligned investing with the members of the committee that produced these guidelines.
For a link to the Wall Street Journal article visit Omiusa.org
