Catholic investing -also known as Faith-based Investing– shows that investing with coherence is not only possible but deeply necessary. In a financial world dominated by the pursuit of profit, more and more investors seek faith-based investing, capable of integrating values, ethical principles, and solid financial criteria.
Ethical investing from a Catholic perspective views money not as an end in itself, but as a means to serve the common good, human dignity, and the building of a more just and fraternal society.
Placing the Human Person at the Center of Investing
Faith-based investing begins from an essential principle: the human person must always occupy the center of all economic and financial activity.
This is the teaching of the Social Teaching of the Church, which reminds us that material goods—including financial capital—are called to serve the integral development of the human person and the common good.
Therefore, catholic investors direct their assets toward projects, companies, and sectors that promote life, family, dignified work, social justice, and respect for creation—while avoiding activities that contradict Catholic values in investing or violate human dignity.
Investing Guided by Permanent Ethical Principles
Unlike other forms of socially responsible investing, such as ESG criteria—which often shift with social trends or ideological fashions—catholic investing is grounded in objective, universal, and permanent moral principles rooted in the Gospel and the Church’s Magisterium.
An ethical Catholic investment portfolio excludes companies involved in practices contrary to:
- Human life (e.g., abortion or euthanasia).
- Human dignity (e.g., labor exploitation, pornography, or addiction).
- Family (e.g., promotion of gender ideology).
- Care for creation (e.g., irresponsible pollution, environmental destruction, or harm to local communities).
But faith-based investing goes beyond simply avoiding wrongdoing. It actively promotes goods supporting companies that foster social justice, solidarity, sustainability, and authentic human development.
In essence, it is a model of purposeful investing, where every decision reflects a moral choice for the common good.
How to Build a Faith-Aligned Portfolio
Today, there are professional investing tools that allow these criteria to be applied rigorously, transparently, and with technical excellence.
Altum Explorer is a stock screening tool designed to analyze thousands of global companies in light of the Social Teaching of the Church, classifying their level of ethical compatibility.
With Altum Explorer, investors can:
- Identify, with verified evidence, corporate ties to activities contrary to catholic investing and religious freedom.
- Build and simulate portfolios that are 100% aligned with catholic values in investing.
- Integrate ethical and financial analysis into the professional workflow of managers or advisors, ensuring transparency and moral integrity.
Meanwhile, Altum App—a free and accessible tool—brings this analysis closer to individual investors, offering clear, visual, and updated information on companies aligned with ethical investing and christian values.
In addition, the catholic investment advisor plays a key role: not only to maximize risk-adjusted returns but also to guide clients in the ethical discernment of their investments.
This means deeply analyzing companies and funds, ensuring they do not violate fundamental principles of faith, and always offering coherent and profitable alternatives that remain faithful to catholic values.
Faith-Based Investing: Profitability with Purpose
To invest in a way consistent with one’s faith does not mean renouncing profitability, it means giving it meaning and transcendence.
Each investment decision can contribute to a more humane, just, and fraternal economy, serving both the person and God.
Faith-based Investing, or Faithful Investing, is a concrete way of living the Gospel even in the economic sphere, integrating faith into every financial and business decision.
Our investments are not neutral: they reflect who we are, what we believe, and what we stand for.
Ultimately, our actions -including financial ones- define us and can, and must, transform the world in the light of faith.
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