Germany: Bishops’ Conference and Central Committee of German Catholics, a revised guide to ethically sustainable investment

A revised and updated edition of the document on ethically sustainable investment has been issued today. The document, first released in 2015, is jointly produced by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZDK). The handbook, which provides pastoral and social guidelines, aims to support, with insights and practical advice, those in charge of finances within church institutions, so that they can decide how to invest financial resources based on ethical and sustainable criteria. Ethical standards include the protection of human life, respect for and promotion of human rights, working conditions in developing countries, and the preservation of the natural environment. The 2021 edition presented today also builds on the insights of both the Paris Agreement on Climate and the United Nations “2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which are a crucial framework for ethical investment in the Church. In the preface, the President of the DBK, Mgr. Georg Bätzing, and ZDK President Thomas Sternberg, stressed that the Church in Germany has many responsibilities to people and institutions: “It also fulfils this responsibility for and with the financial resources at its disposal. In recent years, there has been much public talk about the Church’s financial commitment. Meanwhile, it is transparency, accountability and perspective action that shape the Church’s work in financial matters”.
Massimo Lavena