On Friday, March 20, 2026, the “Platform for Divestment in the Mining Industry” was officially presented in the Holy See Press Office. The key figures involved were Bishop Vicente Ferreira CSsR of Livramento de Nossa Senhora, President of the Special Commission on Integral Ecology and Mining of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, and Sr. Anneliese Herzig MSsR, a Doctor of Theology who works for the Conference of Religious in Austria and for DKA Austria, the Carol Singers Campaign of the Austrian Catholic Children’s Movement, which supports some 500 projects across the three continents of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The “Platform for Divestment in the Mining Industry” is a collective initiative supported by the Vatican that aims to invite religious, academic, and social institutions to withdraw their financial resources from mining companies that cause serious social and environmental impacts.
During the presentation of the Platform, Monsignor Vicente Ferreira CSsR, Bishop of Livramento de Nossa Senhora, Brazil, and advisor to the Churches and Mining Network, explained that among the numerous movements that the Latin American and Caribbean Church has undertaken in defense of our common home, COP30 was an example of a great march for climate justice, in favor of the people and Mother Earth.
He also affirmed that the document from the Church of the Global South – Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, “A Call to Climate Justice for Our Common Home: Ecological Conversion, Transformation, and Resistance to False Solutions ,” has offered great hope for a prophetic Church, a defender of integral ecology.
“Our presence alongside pastoral groups and popular movements that strive for the Kingdom of God is fundamental, since from the grassroots we dream of a new world ,” the Redemptorist bishop said at the Vatican press conference. The bishop also emphasized the importance of having “networks of listening and protection for those affected by mining. The preferential option for the poor and for the defense of creation cannot be intimidated by the allure of money,” Bishop Ferreira concluded.
Sister Anneliese Herzig, of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer, spoke about the issue of gold and its implications for investments within the Church. Since 2018, the Church in Austria, she explained, has had a guideline for ethical investments: investing money is not ethically neutral.
“Activities contrary to social doctrine should not be supported, nor should one benefit from them. It’s a matter of credibility.” And in this process, they have excluded investment in physical gold. “This has been possible thanks to the voices from the Global South,” she clarified. She explained that gold, in truth, has no practical use. “That’s why Church investors must ask themselves if it isn’t possible to invest better,” she pointed out, since investing in gold prolongs the suffering of some peoples. “Our guidelines alone will not be enough; a change of mentality is needed. We must listen to the voices of the affected communities and let them resonate in our hearts,” she concluded.
(Vatican News /Scala News)
The “Platform for Divestment in the Mining Industry” brings together more than 40 Catholic and ecumenical institutions from around the world, including CIDSE (international network of social justice organizations), the Churches and Mining Network, LACEC (Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council), the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (Vatican), and many more. The main reason driving this initiative is that, all too often, mineral extraction has been carried out without consulting local communities, without respecting the rights of indigenous peoples, and without considering the limits of the ecosystems that sustain life.
COP30 is the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It has brought together nearly 200 countries to assess climate progress, marking 10 years since the Paris Agreement with a focus on the Amazon. Catholic bishops from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean have issued a joint statement on this meeting ( see the Laudato Si’ Movement ).
Press Conference Video:
https://youtu.be/4HH6pu_JIps
