Vatican Urges Church to Divest from Mining

0:00You're listening to Global News today, powered by the Daily News Now. The Vatican kicked off a new campaign on Friday, urging the Catholic Church and other Christian groups to pull investments from mining companies. The push aims to make sure Church money lines up with its teachings on caring for the planet and protecting vulnerable people. This effort draws straight from Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical, Praise the Bee, which calls out big corporations for damaging the environment, and hurting poor and indigenous communities. It's led by the Church's and mining network, a group of Catholic and other Christian organizations that's especially active in Latin America. Indigenous leaders shared heartbreaking stories at a Vatican news conference. One woman from Peru described how mining pollution has contaminated drinking water, leaving mothers worried about poisoning their own kids. A Guatemalan cardinal pointed out that, while projects create short-term jobs, they mostly benefit shareholders and fail to deliver real justice or community growth.

1:01Vatican officials admitted they need to review their own investments, too. Pope Francis set up an ethical investment committee in 2022 to balance church values with financial needs. Just last month, the Vatican bank released two new benchmarks for Catholic friendly stocks in Europe and the US. As this movement grows, it's a clear signal that faith groups want their money to support healing the earth rather than harming it.