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June 18, 2020, Adrian, Michigan – On the fifth anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si’, U.S. congregations of Dominican Sisters announced the launching of a strategic investment initiative in collaboration with Morgan Stanley to address climate change, especially as it affects marginalized communities disproportionately impacted by global warming. The Sisters committed $46,650,000 to the initiative, seeding Climate Solutions Funds that have attracted more than $130,000,000 in capital investments.
“Dominicans have long been engaged in addressing issues related to poverty and Earth’s degradation,” said Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. “Today we are extending these efforts to Wall Street by proactively investing in marketplace climate solutions that we hope will have a catalyzing impact for the common good of people and planet.”
Leaders of 16 congregations of Dominican Sisters, representing nearly 3,500 Catholic Sisters from Washington to New York and Texas to Michigan, are participating in this collaborative initiative in partnership with the Chicago office of Graystone Consulting Group, a women-led institutional consulting practice which is part of Morgan Stanley. The Sisters’ anchor investments in this initiative have attracted additional investors, providing a pool of more than $130 million for investment in climate solutions that integrate the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on water, sanitation, food security, energy, and related challenges facing economically impoverished communities.
“We are bringing these resources to the marketplace to help address our deep concern about the integrity of God’s creation and the people most impacted by climate change,” Sister Patricia said. “Although we initiated this effort well before the outbreak of COVID-19, the global pandemic has underscored the link between climate change and ecological degradation and the health and wellbeing of people, especially those most vulnerable.”
The initiative, five years in the making, has attracted numerous other investors. Séamus P. Finn, OMI, Chief of Faith Consistent Investing of the Oblate International Pastoral (OIP) Investment Trust, said, “The OIP Trust is excited by the opportunity to join the Dominican-Climate fund and was especially attracted by the insight and innovation that is at the core of the fund’s approach. The vision for the fund is grounded in the transformation of the current financial system and gives priority to people, planet and sustainability.”
Lisa Zuckerman, Vice President of Treasury and Strategic Investing for CommonSpirit Health, said, “CommonSpirit Health is a long-standing socially responsible investor, and we are grateful for opportunities with like-minded investors that align with our values and create healthier communities. We seek strong social returns as well as financial returns. With its focus on climate change, the Climate Impact Solutions Fund helps address a pressing global health issue,” she said, adding, “When we can meet our financial goals, we are able to spread our healing mission to more people.”
Sister Patricia noted, “We are delighted that this integrated approach to climate investing has attracted other investors and investment managers, helping to scale this kind of approach to climate finance globally.”
The unusual partnership between U.S. Catholic Sisters and a global Wall Street investment firm emerged from a commitment the Dominican Sisters made as a Conference in 2015 to “develop an appropriate strategy to promote investment in climate solutions.” The commitment, made prior to the Paris Climate Agreement, was the fruit of a yearlong faith-praxis cycle of study, contemplation and action developed by the Earth Council of northeast Dominican congregations that had engaged Dominicans throughout the United States.
A Sisters’ Climate Finance Taskforce was formed, reaching out to more than three dozen financial institutions in search of a manager that would develop financial products addressing climate change and integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “We found that manager in The Graystone Consulting Group of Morgan Stanley,” said Caldwell Dominican Sister Patricia Daly, OP, a longtime corporate-responsibility advocate, who played a leading role on the taskforce and in forging the partnership. “This marks a new moment of collaboration in the world of finance. May this milestone spark a new movement of integrated climate solutions that are responsive to Pope Francis’ moral call to humanity in Laudato Si’ to care for God’s creation and God’s people,” she said.
Two years ago, on June 18, 2018, leaders of the 16 congregations gathered at the global headquarters of Morgan Stanley on Times Square to celebrate the inauguration of the initiative with their anchor commitments. The Sisters were hosted by officers from Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing and Graystone Consulting Institutional Consultants Kristina Van Liew and Linda Stephans.
“Partnering with Morgan Stanley’s Graystone Consulting, we seek to identify models for faith-based organizations and other institutions and individuals to proactively invest in climate solutions that will help our world shift to a renewables-based economy while assisting the neediest communities around the globe,” Sister Patricia said. “We want to do all we can to protect Earth, our common home, and help safeguard the future for young people today and for generations to come.”
Sister Patricia noted that their integrated approach to climate finance echoes the call Pope Francis issued in Laudato Si’ for “an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the underprivileged, and at the same time protecting nature” (139). The initiative is aligned with efforts that Catholic Sisters around the world have undertaken for years to address issues related to poverty and ecological degradation. These include support for affordable housing and healthcare, education, microenterprise, community development, as well as clean water, land conservation, renewable energy, Earth literacy programs, wetlands restoration, and advocacy for climate agreements and programs serving people with low incomes, among others.
The 16 congregations of Dominican Sisters participating in this collaboration, and the congregational leaders giving voice to the statements are:
Adrian Dominican Sisters (Michigan) Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress Amityville Dominican Sisters (New York) Peggy McVetty OP, Prioress Blauvelt Dominican Sisters (New York) Michaela Connolly, OP, Prioress Caldwell Dominican Sisters (New Jersey) Patrice Werner, OP, Prioress Dominican Sisters of Hope (Ossining, New York) Catherine McDonnell, OP, Prioress Dominican Sisters of Houston (Texas) Donna Pollard, OP, Prioress Dominican Sisters of Peace (Columbus, Ohio) Patricia Twohill, Prioress Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa (Wisconsin) Toni Harris, OP, Prioress Dominican Srs of St. Catherine of Siena (Saratoga, Calif.) Susan Snyder, OP, Prioress Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids (Michigan) Sandra Delgado, OP, Prioress Dominican Sisters of Sparkill (New York) Mary Murray, OP, President Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic (New York) Antoinette Guztler, OP, President Mission San Jose Dominican Sisters (Fremont, California) Cecilia Canales, OP, Prioress San Rafael Dominican Sisters (California) Carla Kovack, OP, Prioress Springfield Dominican Sisters (Illinois) Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP, Prioress Tacoma Dominican Sisters (Washington) Sharon Casey, OP, Past President
U.S. Catholic Sisters, including congregations of Dominican Sisters, are financially independent of the Roman Catholic Church. Their revenues come from the ministerial earnings of their Sisters, which are pooled along with donations in support of their mission, social security payments, and earnings on investment of these resources.
By Sister Maria May Cano, OP Executive Secretary, Caritas Kalookan
May 26, 2020, Caloocan City, the Philippines – The formal experience of the Diocese of Kalookan – one of 10 Suffragan Dioceses in Metro Manila – began on March 14, 2020, when Bishop Pablo Virgilio David called a meeting of the women and men religious and diocesan priests. He announced our need to follow the advice of the Department of Health: to practice social distancing to avoid the spreading of the coronavirus. All Masses and other gatherings were canceled. Bishop David further asked the priests to respond to the various needs of the people, especially for confession.
The Diocese of Kalookan – made up of 29 parishes, two quasi-parishes, and 13 mission stations – is the poorest diocese in Metro Manila. About 90% of the people are the “poorest of the poor.” This is where we can find the peripheries, as Pope Francis mentioned during his 2015 visit to our country.
Many people lost their jobs because of the pandemic and do not have money to provide the basic needs of their family. We cater to people of all walks of life: people with special needs, senior citizens, the sick, and families of those who were victims of extra-judicial killings in the war against drugs.
By the grace of God, two days after our meeting, we started receiving donations in cash and kind. The staff of Caritas Kalookan, Inc., was in charge of accepting those donations, as well as purchasing and disbursing goods needed by the people in the diocese. We received more than 1,500 cavans of rice and purchased 800 cavans of rice. In the Philippines, a cavan is a unit of dry measurement, equal to about 44 kilograms (97 pounds).We also received canned goods from individuals, religious organizations, and private companies like San Miguel Corp. We in the Diocese of Kalookan collected around 7 million pesos, in addition to the donations in kind.
The business sectors in Greater Manila donated around 1.7 billion pesos worth of gift certificates to Caritas Manila. Bishop David distributed the Kalookan Diocese’s share of gift certificates – about 230 million pesos worth – to the priests and chaplains of mission stations, who gave them to families in need in our diocese. The gift certificates enable the families to purchase their basic needs. Sister Abegail Santos, OP, my community member and companion, focuses on collating the gift certificate and reporting on their distribution to Caritas Manila.
While I am busy accepting the donations in kind, ordering goods, and sending deliveries to various parishes, I also purchase milk for the children and distribute gift certificates for their medicines.
The East West Seeds Philippines Corporation approved our request to provide us with vegetable seeds and seedlings, since we are experiencing crisis. It is good to plant vegetables while we are in lockdown. We teach our people to produce their own vegetables in their own backyard. This is an application of the message of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’ and is one way that we care for and nurture our Mother Earth.
The company also connected us to the farmers, purchasing fresh vegetables at a reasonable price. This benefited both the farmers and the people who received the seedlings and learned to plant organic vegetables.
In Mining, Angeles City, Sisters Arsenia Puno, OP, Victoria Changcoco, OP, Liberty Mendoza, OP, Meliza Arquillano, OP, and Leizel Tedria, OP, have also been involved in ministry to people suffering because of the pandemic. They received donations of more than 300,000 pesos and distributed goods to 500 indigenous Aeta families. In addition, they cooked food for people on the front lines and distributed food packs to 500 families for four weeks – a total of 2,000 packs – through Caritas Manila.
Sister Ines Manuel, OP, also cooked for the people on the frontlines and distributed food packs to people with disabilities and other neighbors in Manibaug, Porac.
Sisters Jolyn Dungo, OP, Yolanda Manapsal, OP, Marifi Lugtu, OP, Antonette Lumbang, OP, Rosita Yaya, OP, and Filomena Manuel, OP, distributed food packs in San Fernando.
I thank God, for all the experiences we had despite of many trials we encountered. God is good, sending generous benefactors in the midst of this COVID-19 crisis. We are blessed to have a bishop who is so compassionate, caring, and supportive, and who is always worried about the situation of our poor brothers and sisters.
I salute, too, all the people on the front lines: the doctors, nurses, media people, military personnel who are assigned in different checkpoints, salespeople, bakers, parish volunteers, the Curia staff, and all those reach out to our brothers and sisters. We also thank those who spend more time in prayer that we might overcome this crisis.
We have been in this situation for about two months and have kept on praying that we will survive and gradually return to our new normal. I know that God is with us as we unite all our prayers and sacrifices. I entrust everything in God’s hands. I pray, too, that we will have the medicines and vaccines to combat COVID-19. God is merciful. I pray that He will heal our Land, and the whole World. God bless us all!
Feature photo: Father Celoi Andamon, OMI, Director of Caritas Kalookan, and Sister Maria May Cano, OP, with a car-full of donations of squash. The priests and religious pick up the squash and distribute them to the people in their parishes.