As Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, we recognize our dual responsibility to be fiscally accountable and socially responsible. We wish to utilize our financial resources for the furtherance of the Gospel mandate to carry on the mission of Christ in our World. We are called to serve the poor and needy, to promote charity and justice, to be a sign of hope and love, which can reveal to others the goodness and loving providence of God. Our corporate investments must reflect our commitments:
- We affirm our respect for human rights and the dignity of human life.
- We affirm our commitment to use resources for the common good of the whole earth
- We wish to promote education, justice, equality, and peace, particularly in areas that affect women and children.
We desire to utilize our investments to encourage:
- Improvement in the quality of life in such areas as health, housing, food, education, utilities, leisure, transportation and advertising.
- Boards of Directors which provide a voice to women, minority groups and consumers
- Fair employment practices in corporations
- The elimination of exploitive practices especially in economically poor countries
- A more equitable distribution of material resources and income
- Decision-making that empowers the poor
- Investment in and support of minority-owned and women-owned businesses
- Responsible action concerning agriculture and the environment
- Worker participation in decision-making and ownership
- The conversion from militarism to peacetime operations
It is our intent to use our ownership:
- To let corporations know of our commitment to social responsibility
- To vote our proxies and invest in accordance with the above guidelines
- To cooperate with other stockholders who have similar concerns