The social action arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Caritas Philippines, has expressed gratitude to the Archdiocese of Manila for divesting from all its investments in destructive businesses.
"We commend the Archdiocese of Manila for heeding the call of Pope Francis and the CBCP to divest from fossil fuels and other industries that are harmful to the environment," Caritas Philippines President Bishop Jose Colin M. Bagaforo said in a statement on Saturday, Sept. 16.
The bishop pointed out that this is a significant step towards protecting the common home and ensuring a sustainable future for all.
The Archdiocese of Manila has consistently condemned actions that harm the environment and calls on the Church "to divest from investments contributing to environmental degradation."
In addition to this environmental commitment, the Caritas Philippines Academy will offer its first executive course on servant leadership and pastoral management for bishops of the Philippine Catholic Church from Sept. 18 to 23 at the Caritas Philippines Development Center in Tagaytay City.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/10/caritas-ph-academy-to-launch-executive-course-for-catholic-bishops
The academy also announced its notable speakers that will grace the event.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/13/top-notch-resource-persons-to-grace-caritas-ph-academy-executive-course
"We hope that this course will help more dioceses and religious institutions in the Philippines to follow the example of the Archdiocese of Manila and divest from destructive businesses," said Bishop Bagaforo.
The course will cover the following topics, including the social, economic, political, and environmental context for divestment and the subsequent reinvestment of assets; strategies for ethical divestment from environmentally destructive activities; faith-consistent and socially responsible investments rooted in Catholic values; and mobilizing public support for the global and local divest-invest movement following the Mensuram Bonam (MB) roadmap.
The Caritas added that a team of experts on Catholic social teaching, investment ethics, and sustainable finance will lead the course.
Thus, participants will be able to learn from each other and share their experiences in divestment.