A curious piece in the Financial News with a stupid headline:
Vatican backs new equities index
Phil Craig
26 Apr 2010Investors are being invited to put money into a new Catholic equities index that is being backed by the Vatican, at a time when the church is dealing with an increasing number of disaffected congregants in the wake of abuse allegations.
European index provider Stoxx launched the Stoxx Europe Christian index today. It takes companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 index and excludes companies that do not meet predetermined tolerance levels for activities including pornography, arms, gambling and birth control.
The criteria that underlie the index are decided by an independent committee, led by US asset manager Christian Brothers Investment Services, which specialises in socially responsible investing according to Catholic principles. Other members of the committee include representatives of the Vatican, the Missionary International Service News Agency, and academics and professional investors.
[…]
What I glean from this is that some organization of the Christian Brothers has done something. Because it involves money, and probably also the Holy See’s Institute for the Works of Religion ("Vatican Bank") the Holy See has people on the board. That doesn’t make that organization of the Christian Brothers "The Vatican".
These dopey journalists…
If something has to do with any aspect of the Catholic Church they rush to conclude that "The Vatican" is pulling the strings.
That aside, it would be interesting to know more about this Stoxx Europe Christian index someday.
