The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), known as the Vatican Bank, has announced the launch of two new stock indices built from criteria aligned with Catholic doctrine and ethics, as reported by Euronews. The initiative, developed in collaboration with the financial firm Morningstar, aims to offer investment benchmarks consistent with moral principles inspired by the Church’s teachings.
The new indicators, named Morningstar IOR US Catholic Principles and Morningstar IOR Eurozone Catholic Principles, cover the US market and the eurozone market, respectively. Each index is composed of 50 mid- and large-cap companies selected after applying ethical filters defined by the IOR.
A stock index is a tool that brings together a group of companies to measure their performance in the market. It serves as a reference for those who wish to invest their money following certain criteria.
Catholic Principles as the Condition for Inclusion
Unlike other traditional financial indices, the inclusion of companies does not respond exclusively to profitability or market volume criteria. The IOR has stated that the selection is carried out based on ethical standards rooted in the Church’s social doctrine, including respect for human life, the dignity of the person, corporate social responsibility, and certain criteria related to environmental impact.
The stated objective is to provide a benchmark tool for investors who wish to align their financial decisions with religious convictions, integrating ethical coherence and economic performance.
Technical Collaboration with Morningstar
The project has been developed together with Morningstar Indexes, which provides the technical methodology for the construction and weighting of the indices. While the financial firm applies the usual quantitative market criteria, the IOR defines the moral filters that determine which companies can be part of the index.
With this initiative, the Vatican Bank enters the field of thematic and ethical investment, although introducing an explicitly confessional dimension linked to Catholic principles.
How They Compare to Other Catholic Indices
The IOR’s new indices are not the first stock benchmark based on Catholic values. Since 2015, the S&P 500 Catholic Values Index has existed, developed by S&P Dow Jones Indices and based on the responsible investment guidelines of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
The main difference lies in the methodology. The US index starts from the S&P 500 universe and excludes companies that do not meet the criteria defined by the USCCB. In contrast, the IOR indices do not limit themselves to filtering a pre-existing index, but directly select companies according to the ethical parameters established by the Vatican institution.
Additionally, the S&P 500 Catholic Values Index has financial products that replicate it, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that manage billions of dollars. The IOR indices, on the other hand, are born as benchmarks that could serve as a basis for future investment instruments aligned with Catholic principles.