Mensuram Bonam: Muddled Vatican Guide to Catholic Investing
Mensuram Bonum, Vatican document on investing according to Catholic Social Teaching
Watch the video here:
I read with interest this new document, Mensuram Bonum, as the Church has given very little direct guidance on how a Catholic should invest.
Unfortunately, while the document has some true points, it also espouses Globalist propaganda points throughout which are antithetical to Catholic teaching.
As such, it is not reliable as a whole and Catholics must be wary of it, picking out the good and discarding the bad. That makes the document a failure in my book, as the whole point of such a document should be clear, true guidance on how to morally invest as a Catholic.
Mensuram Bonum states:
"Important frameworks have already been launched, such as for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Trajectories for measuring just, inclusive and ecologically-sound practices are being fashioned by the UN and elsewhere."
This quote is found early in the document and immediately raises the warning flag to any Catholic familiar with the Globalist agenda of the U.N.
For instance, one of these UN Goals is for health and well-being, but dig into that and they talk all about COVID and the need to get vaccinated. Covid jabs have killed and grievously injured millions of people.
Another goal is "gender equality" which includes the typical UN evils of contraception, sterilization, abortion.
The UN energy goals ostensibly are for helping more people have electricity (a good thing) yet their globalist focus on renewables and attacks on oil and gas mean that those people will never get electricty.
Their goal of reducing inequality is a code word for allowing sexual perversion.
They have a climate change goal, of course, and it is garbage, and this goal unfortunately the Mensuram Bonum document champions.
Mensuram Bonum states:
"Today’s most pressing example is that many of the communities around the world that are
suffering first the calamitous effects of climate change are those that least contributed to humancaused global warming."
This drivel is pure agenda, falsehoods, and a hint at errors that this document will recommend later on.
MB states:
"If similar to the innovations the financial industry has been seeking—with its numerous responsibilities products such as ESG—the key from MB is that ethics resonant with Catholic
faith are now crucial to the objective function of investing."
Uh oh. Now the Globalist agenda buzzword acronym ESG is trotted out, as if it is a good thing or an obviously beneficial framework. It is not.
ESG stands for Environmental, Social, Governance and is a Globalist propaganda tool that seeks to blacklist companies that allegedly are harming the environment or peoples.
Instead, as we will see, it's a simple cover to demonize certain industries and companies in order to enrich others and ultimately increase control that the globalist elites have over the rest of the population.
Mensuram Bonum says:
"Mutual funds attentive to the needs of socially responsible investors, or responsive to CST and its integral development objectives, are growing in number, although viable options are still limited or may apply only to certain segments of the investment portfolio or may not
be available in all countries."
The fact is that few mutual funds even attempt to follow Catholic Social Teaching, and even those that do have questionable board members and decision-makers.
I have invested in such funds in the past but have now in effect made my own personal mutual fund by selecting stocks that fit Catholic teachings.
Mensuram Bonum states:
"ESG enhanced with CST. Investors may well benefit from the evolving ESG investing platforms
which are being developed to enable companies to be evaluated and scored on their commitments
and records on environmental, social and governance criteria. Many of the underlying factors for ESG resonate with the aims underlying CST, creating a potential for new synergy between value and values."
Groan. And yet FTX, the corrupt crypto exchange, had a high ESG score as a company. Hahhaah. Ridiculous, subjectively judged criteria that should be completely ignored.
Mensuram Bonum says:
"It is crucial to note that ESG is not a synonym for CST. At its core, CST bends the trajectory of the economy and of culture to be more human and humanizing."
Yes that is crucial to note, and I'm glad that it was said, as reading the document up to this point one would not realize it!
Mensuram Bonum states:
"Like other responsibility initiatives for markets, ESG remains a work in progress. As yet, there are no internationally ascertained and validated evaluation criteria. Beyond “greenwashing,” there are examples of corporations and business associations lobbying regulators against the very social responsibility commitments that they are making to stakeholders and the public."
Yes no kidding. That's the problem with it!
Mensuram Bonum has some (mostly accurate) tables on what not to invest in.
In one of these tables though, "Threats to climate change" is put right alongside true Catholic teachings against "abortion" and "pornography." Ridiculous.
I would also add, "armaments" are included as something that should be avoided in investing, yet there's just war and legitimate defense of a nation.
Further, "nuclear weapons" are included but it is not made clear that, for example, uranium is used in nuclear power plants and should not be excluded from investment.
Overall I found this document's tables of areas to watch out for or avoid to be helpful, since most, but not all, of the listings in the tables are aligned with Catholic principles.
But since some of the items in the tables are garbage, it greatly pollutes the credibility and usefulness of the guide, and calls into question the competency and understanding of the Faith of those who put it together.
Here's my take on investing morally as a Catholic: https://www.lionheartcatholic.com/blog/catholic-stock-portfolio-for-moral-investing
