Vatican encourages investments consistent with faith

Global Catholic investment managers and Catholic institutions have committed, beginning in 2025, to build a new system of faith-consistent services, with the goal of aligning $1.75 trillion of capital with the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

The commitments emerged during the second "Mensuram Bonam" conference, held in London in November 2024. Organized in light of the text "Mensuram Bonam," a 2022 Vatican document from the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the event brought together more than 90 financial sector leaders and church leaders from 16 countries to strengthen Catholic and Christian investments.

Key initiatives announced

Several important projects were presented to fill the current lack of investment services for Christian investors:

• New Catholic market indexBloomberg Index Services will collaborate with Catholic institutions to create the Mensuram Bonam index. This index will expand on previous Catholic benchmarks by incorporating broader Church guidelines that go beyond the framework of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
• Proxy voting consortiumThe Knights of Columbus, in collaboration with the Catholic University of America, is launching a nonprofit consortium to offer a Catholic Social Teaching-based guide to proxy voting. Participants will pay only commissions at the cost level and maintain independent voting rights.
• Long-term performance researchCatholic Investment Services, Captrust and the Knights of Columbus will publish a white paper analyzing the long-term performance impact of faith-consistent investments (FCI).
• Identification of Catholic fundsCCLA and investment research firms will map existing funds for Catholic investors and explore the creation of new Catholic/Christian fund sectors, similar to the already established categories of Islamic investments.
• Standardized framework for accountabilityThe participants approved the adoption of a common Faith-Consistent Investing reporting model, as the framework for the "Engage, Enhance, Exclude" of "Mensuram Bonam"to simplify monitoring for investors working with multiple managers.

Building a Christian Investment Ecosystem

This momentum reflects the growing demand for investments that generate competitive financial returns while adhering to Catholic values. Catholic-oriented portfolios typically exclude sectors such as narcotics, pornography, labor rights violations, nuclear weapons and practices contrary to the sanctity of life.

The conference also highlighted the opportunities in alternative investments, emphasizing their potential for diversification and long-term returns, provided investors are properly educated and supported to deal with the complexities.

A market ready to grow

Although Christian institutions collectively hold about $1.75 trillion in assets, the faith-oriented investment sector for Christians remains underdeveloped compared to Islamic finance, which is projected to reach $6.7 trillion by 2027. The initiatives announced in "Mensuram Bonam." represent a concerted effort to bridge this gap and build a solid market infrastructure for Catholic and Christian investors worldwide. With the consolidation of faith-oriented investments, the "Mensuram Bonam" could mark a turning point, laying the foundation for a financial ecosystem that not only pursues profit, but also reflects the moral and social teachings of the Christian faith.