Responsibility of the Faithful

Faith-based socially-responsible investors generally, and those in the Catholic faith particularly, have not always been welcome voices among the chorus of corporate responsibility activists. But that is changing.

Occasionally shrill on the issues, these conscientious monitors remind us that there is more to the call for socially-responsible investment than the usual list of do-good stakeholder demands. Dare we say they are truly focused on how companies do business and how those business decisions will affect the whole of society.

Thus, Sister Patricia Daly of the Sisters of St. Dominic, who is director of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment should be commended for her principled stance on environmental and governance issues.

It is hard to argue with an order that takes a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience--and still finds room to make money for their investors.

(c) 2009 Adonis E. Hoffman