There have been several positive developments amongst Catholic investors in the last few months. Advocacy from the Bishops’ Conference, movement towards increased collaboration, the publication of Catholic Social Teaching resources for investors, and new guidance from the Vatican on the mining industry, all contribute to a closer alignment of investments with Catholic values.
Last November, the Bishops Conference of England and Wales called on the British government to endorse the Fossil Fuel Treaty. This call to move away from fossil fuels and support a just transition to clean energy is an important way of living out faith, showing that organisations do not need to be invested in oil and gas companies in order to influence the industry. Though more than half of Catholic dioceses in England and Wales have made divestment commitments, Bishops signing the Treaty themselves would lend further credibility to their call for a transition to clean energy.
Operation Noah launched Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and investing in Climate Solutions last year to help mobilise Catholic organisations to support the green transition. The toolkit applies the principles of the key pillars of CST to investment decision-making; summarising Church teaching on human dignity, for example, and providing material to support discernment such as reports and questions for investment managers. The toolkit and accompanying webinar series opened discussions which led to a group forming around the topic of Catholic investments.
This Catholic Investors Forum, the first network of its kind in the UK which is not behind a paywall or sponsored by investment management organisations, held its inaugural meeting last month. The Forum is open to those looking after investments from a diocese or religious order, regardless of the size of their investment portfolio. The aim of this independent network is to reduce barriers to engagement with like-minded peers around ethical investment, and the hope is for it to evolve into a trusted community of practice that allows open sharing.
A recent booklet, Catholic Faith-based Investing, published by CCLA Investment Management and St Mary’s University, London, contains a collection of articles reflecting on ethical investment. The booklet highlights the complexity investors face in making decisions about which companies or industries they support with their investment, building on the work of Mensuram Bonam, a Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences publication for Catholic Investors. The majority of the essays offer helpful recommendations for Catholic organisations, however some perspectives serve to undermine the progress the Church has made in recognising the harms to life caused by the fossil fuel industry. There are many industries, such as tobacco or weapons, that church organisations will not invest in because, like the fossil fuel industry, they are incompatible with the protection of life and biodiversity, and therefore engagement to influence these industries is neither appropriate nor effective. Similarly, last month, the Vatican recommended that Catholic organisations divest from mining companies that fail to protect the environment and uphold workers’ rights. Therefore, by positioning divestment as ‘jumping on a bandwagon,’ some authors within this booklet take a retrograde stance that jars with the progressive ideas on offer elsewhere in the publication.
Taken together, these developments signal a maturing movement within Catholic investment. From dioceses divesting from fossil fuels to the Vatican calling on organisations to step back from harmful mining practices, the direction of travel is clear: faith and finance are no longer seen as separate spheres. The establishment of independent networks, the publication of practical resources, and growing solidarity among Catholic investors suggest that this is not a passing trend but a deepening commitment. The challenge now is to ensure that the principles of Catholic Social Teaching go beyond shaping the conversation and influence impactful investment decisions.
Next Catholic Investors Forum:
Members of investment committees at dioceses or religious orders, and those working for Catholic investors, are invited to join the next Catholic Investors Forum on Thursday 4th June, 15:00 – 16:30. The meeting will focus on investment policies, with presentations from the Diocese of Salford and Jesuits in Britain sharing how they developed their policies and how they measure alignment with their portfolio. Registrants will also receive access to several example investment policies from Catholic organisations in the UK and abroad to help prepare for the discussion.
Click here to register to attend: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/cvXVJrLhQv
Investing in Climate Solutions
The Association of Provincial Bursars and Operation Noah warmly invite members to join us for an afternoon webinar on how congregations can use their investments to support a just and sustainable future on Wednesday 20 May 2026 at 2.30PM.
Register here : https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/xw0COwQbQOizO3kjAtYq8g
