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GMA Network
4 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
PH Catholic Church falls behind goal to divest in fossil fuel, mining operations — study
The Philippine Catholic Church has been lagging in its efforts to divest investments in companies involved in fossil fuel and mining operations in the past decade, according to a report published by a non-government organization and the Church's charity arm. The Catholic shareholders' report, which was launched on Wednesday entitled "A Decade of Divestment for Our Common Home' identified Catholic stockholders of 16 corporations that have been identified to finance fossil fuel and mining operations. The report was published Living Laudato Si Philippines, an NGO that started as an interfaith movement initiated by Catholic lay people calling on Philippine financial institutions to divest from coal-related operations and other environmentally harmful activities, and Caritas Philippines. From 2015 to 2024, the study showed that only P167.5 million worth of stocks have been divested by Catholic shareholders from the said corporations. It can be recalled that the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a Pastoral Letter in 2022 that detailed the committment to withdraw support for non-renewable energy resources such as fossil fuel by the end of 2025. 'Without clear commitments and policies from these banks to divest from fossil fuels, we (CBCP) commit to withdraw all our resources that are with them not later than 2025, and hold them accountable to their fiduciary duties and moral obligations as climate actors,' the 2022 Pastoral Letter read. GMA News Online has reached out to CBCP for comment. The report also identified nine archdioceses and 20 dioceses as stockholders of at least one of the 16 corporations and more than 140 congregations, missionaries, schools, universities, research institutions, seminaries, and other groups were also identified as stockholders. Meanwhile, the stocks of the Archdiocese of Manila in six corporations, which are valued at P43.6 billion as of December 2024, did not decline in the past decade. GMA News Online has reached out to the Archdiocese of Manila for comments. The report noted that 10 Catholic groups divested in a Philippine conglomerate company within the past decade, while four organizations increased their shares. This resulted in a 16% decrease in stocks and a 25% growth in total value for all Church shareholders. And at least 13 Catholic Church groups own 61% shares of the conglomerate company. "For the CBCP to meet its divestment pledge, it must decide on how to enable the dioceses and other groups to navigate the entire divest-invest process,' said John Leo Algo, Living Laudato Si deputy executive director for Programs and Campaigns. 'This involves letting bishops know exactly where their finances and assets are, improving their literacy on sustainable financing, and giving them the understanding that divest-invest is ultimately a process of just transition," Algo added. Synodality San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminazan, head of the CBCP National Laudato Si Program, noted the importance of synodality, or journeying together, in dealing with the divestment challenges. "We must walk the talk, aligned with the Laudato Si' and our previous pledges. We are currently taking steps to strengthen our programs, such as on green auditing, capacity-building for financial officers in dioceses, and forming partnerships to accelerate our divestment towards more sustainable reinvestment," said Alminazan, who is also the Vice President of Caritas Philippines. Published in 2015, Pope Francis' "Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home' tackles climate change and humans' role in caring for the earth. To address the divestment challenges, the report recommended the following to the CBCP and other institutions: Produce a report presenting a list of viable options for sustainable investments Conduct a comprehensive financial mapping and auditing of all Philippine dioceses for a more accurate assessment of the CBCP's progress in divestment Continue the rollout of the divest-invest executive course, with a stronger emphasis on improving ecological understanding, financial literacy, and ethical decision-making Create new partnerships in sustainable financing, and foreign faith-based organizations with progress in the divest-invest process Persuade current Catholic stockholders to influence corporate leadership to transition away from ecologically-harmful industries and activities Enhance the multisectoral implementation of strategies and programs relevant to divest-invest under the National Laudato Si' Program "The Church continues to reach out through a new dialogue as a compassionate bridge of respectful understanding. Transformation must start from within because it is in witnessing that we take action as we are all called to live by the teachings of the Gospel and the guidance of those who lead us,' said Rodne Galicha, Laudato Si Executive Director. — BAP, GMA Integrated News
NBC News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Cardinal who embraced Philippines' gay Catholics could be the Francis continuity candidate for pope
MANILA — On a balmy night outside Manila's Baclaran church, Gerald Concepcion, 32, and his fellow devotees were decorating a float of the Virgin Mary with fragrant lilies and pink carnations. He added artificial white doves to the arrangement, saying they were in honor of the late Pope Francis, who had led a radical shift in the Catholic Church's treatment of LGBTQ people. 'Pope Francis is a testament that God is alive,' Concepcion, a devout Catholic who works as a street vendor, told NBC News. 'He accepted everyone, including us gay people who have long been marginalized.' Francis' death on April 21 has opened the eternal tension between choosing a successor that represents continuity, or one who will bring change, including a possible return to the church's recent past of more conservative positions on issues like homosexuality. Luis Antonio Tagle, a Filipino cardinal often dubbed the 'Asian Francis' for his emphasis on poor and marginalized people, has emerged as a possible leading contender, or papabile, when the conclave meets on May 7 to elect Francis' replacement. If chosen as pope, Tagle could carry with him some lessons from the Philippines. Despite being the biggest Catholic nation in Asia — about 80% of Filipinos are Catholic — and the third-largest in the world, it is also one of the more LGBTQ-friendly countries in the region. Many gay Catholics, like Concepcion, remain active and visible members of the church, and he says Tagle offers the possibility of continuing Francis' embrace of gay Catholics into the next papacy. 'Being gay is not wrong because we were also created by God and all things that God created are beautiful,' Concepcion added. The Philippine Catholic Church has become more open to gay Catholics in recent years, including in a 2024 position paper in which the church acknowledged the LGBTQ community's 'important role in the life of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines.' And while Tagle, who is known for avoiding provocative rhetoric and controversial issues, has rarely spoken publicly about homosexuality in his statements and homilies, he has lamented the church's 'harsh words' in the past about gay and divorced Catholics say they have felt supported by some of his actions and see them as potential signs of his approach to the community if he were to be elected pope. Edwin Valles, former president of Courage Philippines, an LGBTQ organization under the Archdiocese of Manila, says he is certain that Tagle would continue embracing the gay community. In 2014, Valles said he approached Tagle, then head of the Archdiocese of Manila, to request a priest to be assigned to guide their members, a request Tagle granted. 'It's a commitment on his part,' Valles said. 'He puts money where his mouth is. So I like to think that he will also do the same if and when he becomes pope.' Valles tells a story from a 2018 event they both attended, when a young faithful asked the cardinal about the status of LGBTQ Catholics. 'And his answer was something like: All of us are Catholics, all of us are parishioners, all of us are children of God. So why make that label and distinction? That just serves to separate or put people in boxes,' Valles recalled Tagle saying. A man of the people The Jesuit-educated Tagle, 67, was born to a Filipino father and a Filipino Chinese mother who were both bankers, and Tagle grew up in a well-to-do family. He was ordained as a priest in 1982 at the age of 24, and like Francis, adopted a simple life. From 2001 to 2011, he served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Imus, a city south of Manila, and his hometown. There, Tagle took to walking the streets, greeting street vendors and motorcycle taxi drivers. Residents affectionately recalled how Tagle would sit on a wooden bench outside a humble neighborhood barbershop, Bible in hand, his presence so regular that it earned Roland, the shopkeeper, the nickname, 'Holy Barber.' Tagle then became Manila's archbishop in 2011 and was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. In 2015, he was elected president of Caritas Internationalis, the humanitarian and development organization of the Catholic Church, and was reelected again in 2019. That year, he moved to the Vatican after Francis appointed him head of the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Church's missionary arm. He would fly back to the Philippines, unannounced and without fanfare, to check on his ailing parents, have his hair cut by Roland, and make surprise visits to neighbors and relatives eager to receive a blessing from a cardinal back home from the Vatican. He 'does not possess a prophetic voice' Tagle is highly respected in the Philippines, where he is widely perceived as 'warm, gentle, approachable, humble, and at times funny,' just like Francis, Noel Asiones, an academic researcher from the University of Santo Tomas, a Catholic university in Manila, told NBC News. As a top cleric, Tagle's pastoral approach 'reflects a leader eager to serve and emphasize meeting the needs of his flock,' Asiones said. But the similarities seemed to end there. Unlike Francis who spoke with forceful, moral authority on worldly issues like exploitative capitalism or the injustices of war, Asiones said, Tagle 'lacks or does not possess a prophetic voice.' Tagle has been criticized for his inaction on sexual abuse by priests, and his silence on the extrajudicial killings ordered by the Philippines' former president Rodrigo Duterte, in a crackdown on drugs that left tens of thousands, including children, dead. Duterte openly attacked and threatened the Church which, in the Philippines, has historically stood up against political power. In the face of the flagrant human rights abuses, however, Tagle responded with statements Duterte's opponents criticized as vague and unchallenging. 'I don't think Tagle will be entirely Francis 2.0. For one, he opts for political correctness, often avoiding confrontational language, and seems reticent, if not afraid, to hold truth to power,' Asiones said. A good theologian, but a poor administrator Tagle has had significant experience in the Vatican, but observers say it has been far from stellar. In 2022, Francis dismissed Tagle and the rest of the leadership team of Caritas Internationalis after a Vatican-led audit found 'real deficiencies' in management and procedures. What the Roman Curia needs is a pope who is also a good administrator, said Charles Collins, managing editor of Crux, an international publication focusing on the Catholic Church. 'Tagle is considered intelligent, a good theologian, and a good communicator. But in many ways he has not been a very good administrator in some of the jobs he's had in the Vatican,' Collins said. 'He has not proven himself in that role.' Francis had shaken things up in the Vatican and the Cardinals may look to someone who could provide stability to replace him. 'I think the conclave is going to look at a European Cardinal to become pope,' Collins said. Three issues are expected to hound the next pope: clerical abuse, poor finances of the Vatican, and the ongoing cultural war between progressives and conservatives. Tagle might be one of the more popular papabile, but Collins cautioned that in every conclave, 'there are always people who are being promoted more in the media than among the cardinals.'
