I'll be interested to see how (and if) Jacob Imam and the other folks at New Polity respond to this. It pretty strongly cuts against their argument that owning any stock in any company is intrinsically evil.
I don't agree with them, but I think they will have an easy time given this is basically just a whose who of some pretty evil companies. Morningstar IOR US Catholic Principles for holds META, Amazon, NVIDIA, Apple, and Alphabet stock as major portions of the index. Some of which are the same companies that pay for their female employees to freeze their eggs so they can work more, the same companies that fund abortions, and fly pride flags? Easy time!
Yes, that is a fair criticism to be sure. But New Polity's view is that it is, in principle, intrinsically evil to own stock in anything, period. It could be the most morally upright company in the world, and on their view that would not matter. Owning stock in an immoral company would just be an additional evil.
So, even if the Vatican happened to botch this list, it still squarely contradicted New Polity's view by producing a list at all.
My bad, I was unclear. I meant, they will actually use this news to espouse their views on stock being evil more effectively. I'm imagining a much more eloquent "Look at the Vatican backing these immoral companies, because they are erring humans. Isn't it likely the Vatican is erring when it comes investment as a whole, if they can't even get the basics of not supporting abortion companies right."
Is there any corresponding documentation on how the chosen companies fit with CST? I can think of a few reasons why Meta and Amazon (top two on the US index) don't. (Sidebar - y'all should ad a hyperlink to the indices, unless I somehow missed it.)
Keep up the good work. The Lord spoke often of money & material goods during His earthly ministry, because He knows how much of our time & energy we dedicate to the acquisition of lucre, yet very little even Catholic media attention is paid to Vatican, diocese, & parish finances. I'm grateful for "The Pillar."
The IOR website states that these funds "are designed to serve as a reference for Catholic investments worldwide." That would be unacceptable.
I have these complaints equally about Ave Maria and Knights of Columbus funds, but having the Vatican behind this creates a crisis of credibility. You don't even have to be a NewPolity type to recognize that this is a moral failure.
Out of the top 10 US index holdings on Morningstar's website (as of 2/11/2026—Meta, Amazon, NVIDIA, Tesla, Apple, J.P.Morgan, Broadcom, Visa, Micron, Alphabet):
- 100% have employee benefits for IVF or egg/embryo freezing
- 8/10 pay employees' travel expenses for abortion
That is before even approaching "adult" content availability via Alphabet, generational youth mental health damage from Meta, usurious or at least abusive schemes at J.P.Morgan and Visa, or other issues.
This is somewhat tangential to the post, but a question for people here: do you invest in specifically Catholic investments? I’ve always preferred the lowest cost index funds I can get my hands on (mostly through Vanguard). I’m sure there are arguments to be made about degrees of cooperation in evil, but I think there’s also an argument that it’s better to save as much money as possible (by choosing a low-cost index fund rather than one that tries to pick “moral” companies) and donate the extra money you make.
I'll be interested to see how (and if) Jacob Imam and the other folks at New Polity respond to this. It pretty strongly cuts against their argument that owning any stock in any company is intrinsically evil.
I don't agree with them, but I think they will have an easy time given this is basically just a whose who of some pretty evil companies. Morningstar IOR US Catholic Principles for holds META, Amazon, NVIDIA, Apple, and Alphabet stock as major portions of the index. Some of which are the same companies that pay for their female employees to freeze their eggs so they can work more, the same companies that fund abortions, and fly pride flags? Easy time!
Yes, that is a fair criticism to be sure. But New Polity's view is that it is, in principle, intrinsically evil to own stock in anything, period. It could be the most morally upright company in the world, and on their view that would not matter. Owning stock in an immoral company would just be an additional evil.
So, even if the Vatican happened to botch this list, it still squarely contradicted New Polity's view by producing a list at all.
My bad, I was unclear. I meant, they will actually use this news to espouse their views on stock being evil more effectively. I'm imagining a much more eloquent "Look at the Vatican backing these immoral companies, because they are erring humans. Isn't it likely the Vatican is erring when it comes investment as a whole, if they can't even get the basics of not supporting abortion companies right."
Ah, I understand what you are saying. That makes sense.
Now if we can only understand segregation of duties at the parish level, we can check the box on 19th century financial controls. ✅
Is there any corresponding documentation on how the chosen companies fit with CST? I can think of a few reasons why Meta and Amazon (top two on the US index) don't. (Sidebar - y'all should ad a hyperlink to the indices, unless I somehow missed it.)
Keep up the good work. The Lord spoke often of money & material goods during His earthly ministry, because He knows how much of our time & energy we dedicate to the acquisition of lucre, yet very little even Catholic media attention is paid to Vatican, diocese, & parish finances. I'm grateful for "The Pillar."
The IOR website states that these funds "are designed to serve as a reference for Catholic investments worldwide." That would be unacceptable.
I have these complaints equally about Ave Maria and Knights of Columbus funds, but having the Vatican behind this creates a crisis of credibility. You don't even have to be a NewPolity type to recognize that this is a moral failure.
Out of the top 10 US index holdings on Morningstar's website (as of 2/11/2026—Meta, Amazon, NVIDIA, Tesla, Apple, J.P.Morgan, Broadcom, Visa, Micron, Alphabet):
- 100% have employee benefits for IVF or egg/embryo freezing
- 8/10 pay employees' travel expenses for abortion
That is before even approaching "adult" content availability via Alphabet, generational youth mental health damage from Meta, usurious or at least abusive schemes at J.P.Morgan and Visa, or other issues.
I guess there's a reason they called it Morningstar - although in Latin, the allusion would have been clearer
Good golly. The Tier 1 ratio isn't supposed to 69.7%. No wonder the Vatican's finances are in shambles.
This is somewhat tangential to the post, but a question for people here: do you invest in specifically Catholic investments? I’ve always preferred the lowest cost index funds I can get my hands on (mostly through Vanguard). I’m sure there are arguments to be made about degrees of cooperation in evil, but I think there’s also an argument that it’s better to save as much money as possible (by choosing a low-cost index fund rather than one that tries to pick “moral” companies) and donate the extra money you make.