
Vatican urges Catholics to drop investments in fossil fuels, arms - aloukissas
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-environment/vatican-urges-catholics-to-drop-investments-in-fossil-fuels-arms-idUSKBN23P1HI
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jawns
There is an easy way to do this, if you're so inclined.

The S&P 500 Catholic Values ETF is basically a drop-in replacement for other
ETFs that track the S&P 500. I started buying it a few months ago.

[https://www.globalxetfs.com/funds/cath/](https://www.globalxetfs.com/funds/cath/)

Note that this ETF does not exclude oil companies like Exxon but does exclude
companies that manufacture weapons or engage in other problematic activities.

Yes, there will of course be trade-offs between an ETF like VOO or SPY that
has a much larger presence in the market. But for some people, they're willing
to make that trade-off to divest from holdings they consider problematic.

* Note: If you look at the top 10 holdings in CATH, you'll see there are a bunch of tech companies, and they are certainly not above reproof, in terms of their ethics. But I think many socially conscious investors see a values-based fund or ETF, even if imperfect, as better than nothing.

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dcolkitt
Yeah, except that ETF charges literally a ten times higher management fee than
Vanguard.

If the Vatican really cared, it would provide its own index and low-cost funds
in a non-profit vehicle. The Vatican already has a huge asset management
operation, so they can't possibly claim that this they don't have the
capabilities.

~~~
eigenvalue
Yes, you would literally be better off buying the Vanguard fund and then just
individually shorting out the companies you don't like in the appropriate
ratio!

~~~
gweinberg
Even if it's the same from an investment standpoint I don't think most people
would consider it morally the same. Sorting a stock is essentially betting its
value will go down. If you don't really believe it will go down, shorting a
stock is just creating a profit opportunity for someone taking a long
position. Right?

~~~
elcomet
> creating a profit opportunity for someone taking a long position.

But this person is actually also you. You just bought and sold the same asset.

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jacobwilliamroy
What about military contractors that dont manufacture arms, such as the firm
which assembles and disassembles the monitoring system for army training
exercises? Firms that perform mass surveillance, construction, pentesting.
What about all the fastfood chains which operate on base? At what point in the
kill chain, does participation become un-catholic?

~~~
jawns
Catholic philosophy actually has quite a bit to say about this. Generally, the
question is framed as, "When can it be OK to cooperate with evil?"

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has this little flow chart that does not go
into much detail -- it's no substitute for the texts upon texts that seriously
examine the question -- but gives you a taste of the moral calculations
involved:

[http://archphila.org/HHS/pdf/CoopEvilChart.pdf](http://archphila.org/HHS/pdf/CoopEvilChart.pdf)

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H8crilA
You gotta love this pope for throwing a wrench into the Catholic Church's
conservatism.

Examples: this, easing on gay marriage[1] and masturbation, and the firebomb
of insisting that if you don't care about refugees and you don't take them
into your home then you're not a christian.

While I myself don't care too much about the institution - things like that do
remind me of the Lindy Principle. Very old organizations may appear inert and
stagnating only to remind you that they do have mechanisms of change and
adaptation, otherwise they wouldn't have survived thousands of years.

[1]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis_and_homosexuali...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis_and_homosexuality)

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609venezia
Does anyone have a link to the actual document (‘Journeying Towards Care For
Our Common Home’)? I haven't been able to find it, via the Reuter's piece or
on the Vatican website

~~~
jawns
It looks as if it's a full-fledge book, rather than just a document:

[https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-
society/2020/06/18/...](https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-
society/2020/06/18/new-book-vatican-presses-practical-implications-laudato-si)

Typically, if it were just a statement or a smaller document (or a papal
encyclical), there would be a form of it -- in at least one language, not
necessarily English -- available online almost immediately. The fact that news
organizations reporting about it don't link to the text makes me think it's
not available online.

