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Published by Gina Emrich - Trinity Fiduciary
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Wednesday, 06 February 2008 |
Have you ever thought about how many Catholics are in this country? You might be surprised to know that the number is somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 million! Yes, its true - Catholics make up almost 25% of the population of the United States.
When you consider that only 40% of the population voted in the last presidential election, the potential influence of Catholics in our country is astounding. While the idea of influencing politics immediately comes to mind, there is another less obvious area of life where Catholics can have a big influence - the economy.
The US Catholic bishops actually issued a personal invitation to all
Catholics to do just that in the form of a pastoral letter written in
1986, entitled Economic Justice for All.
In our every day life, it is easy to see how our path to holiness is
deeply entwined with our family life, as we perform the role of spouse,
parent, sibling or child. The bishops make the point that our economic
life is also part of how we live out our faith and achieve holiness.
Their goal in writing the letter was to look at economic life through
the eyes of faith in order to help Catholics live their faith in the
marketplace; as consumers, citizens, workers, and owners. We must
realize that we are each economic actors every day.
Every dollar we put into the economy, by purchasing goods and services
or investing in a company's stock through a mutual fund, annuity, or
direct purchase, serves a purpose. We are enabling companies to make a
profit, expand their business, and donate to charities.
Do we think about what activities we are supporting by the way that we
spend our money? Are we aware of what the companies we support are
doing with their earnings, how they treat their employees, or if they
are harming the environment?
We are responsible for the economic decisions we make and the outcome
of those decisions. The bishops say in Economic Justice for All that
"economic decisions have human consequences and moral content; they
help or hurt people, strengthen or weaken family life, advance or
diminish the quality of justice in our land."
Given the size of our Catholic population, we can go a long way to
ensuring economic justice for all by recognizing our economic power and
choosing to support companies through our purchasing and investing that
enhance our life together as a community.
If you are currently invested in mutual funds, evaluate them and see
what companies they are invested in. Do those companies have any OSHA
violations? Do they make violent video games? Are they paying a just
wage to their employees? How much cash compensation do their board and
CEO make?
If you aren't comfortable with the answers to those questions, it's time to look for a new place to invest.
"Followers of Christ must avoid a tragic separation between faith and everyday life."
- Economic Justice for All
Trinity Fiduciary Partners (Trinity) is a Registered Investment Advisor
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You can contact Trinity at
(866)716-0077. Some of the information given in this publication has
been produced by unaffiliated third parties and, while it is deemed
reliable, Trinity does not guarantee its timeliness, sequence,
accuracy, adequacy, or completeness and makes no warranties with
respect to results to be obtained from its use.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 February 2008 )
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