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Reinforcing Our Beliefs

The financial crisis of 2008 only reinforces our confidence in the larger principles essential for the operation of a just and sustainable financial world order. From a Catholic SRI perspective, we frame these principles in this way:

• Human Dignity — Human beings are created in God’s image and the economy should serve the human person.
• Justice — The moral measure of any economy is how the weakest are faring. Investors and executives must consider the impact of their actions on families and children, particularly those who are poor.
• Stewardship — We are stewards of God’s creation, which we must nurture, respect, preserve and protect for future generations.
• Shared Prosperity — Wealth is a gift to be shared, and work must be fairly and justly rewarded.
• Responsible Ownership — Ownership of capital should be used to promote the common good.
• Corporate Social Responsibility — A business must be responsible to shareholders, employees and the communities in which it operates.

These principles serve as guides for our individual behavior, and for the policies that govern the conduct of our financial institutions. They form the ethical foundation for a just, lasting and widely shared prosperity in the way unchecked greed and a relentless focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term sustainability never can and never will. In 2009, CBIS will continue to advocate for the adoption of these principles by corporations worldwide, confident that they are prerequisites for the highest possible long-term investment returns for participant portfolios. The critical relevance of the teachings of our faith to the conduct of global finance has never been more obvious than in 2008 and never more important than it is now.

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