Catholic Church Explores Impact Investing

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Catholic Relief Services hosted a three-day Vatican conference on Impact Investing in Rome, from June 26 to 28, with this agenda. Celebrating the “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy” established by Pope Francis and his 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si,” the conference was titled, “Making the Year of Mercy a Year of Impact for the Poor.”

Catholic Relief Services held a 3-day workshop before the conference for some of the speakers to discuss among themselves key concepts related to faith-based social enterprise and impact investing.

Here is an overview of the 2016 conference in tweets and photos. According to Carolyn Woo, President of CRS, the Church has had its social mission for the last 2,000 years, with a huge missionary zeal in the last 150 years, but it always lacks capital. Seeing that funds are now available, as a direct result of a change in mentality from many in the private sector, she believes it’s time to step up and say, “Are there some of our ministries that can be sustained by a larger pool of capital?”

Source: Non Profit Quarterly (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Impact Assessment
Tags
impact investing, social enterprise